Molecular Markers for Long-term Survival in Stage IIIA (N2) NSCLC Patients

Abstract

Background: Survival rates among non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) stage IIIA (N2) patients are generally low and depend on the treatment. Patients and methods: We aimed to identify predictive markers for long term survival in responders and non-responders to chemotherapy, analyzing tumour and non-tumour samples by microarray (n=35) and whole exome sequencing (WES, n=25). Results: WES data showed correlation of overall survival of all patients with rs9905892 in the SLFN12L gene. High frequency of mutations (4/6, 66.7%) was identified in members of SWI/SNF complex in responder patients and in patients that were alive after seven years. Microarray data for immune components showed that VISTA (VSIR) was down-regulated in tumoral tissue. Conclusion: Our research suggests that mutations in SWI/SNF complex associate with long term survival after multimodal treatment, while down-regulation of VISTA might indicate its immunomodulatory role in NSCLC stage III (N2) patients.