Positive expression of protein chromosome 9 open reading frame 86 (C9orf86) correlated with poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer patients

Abstract

Background: Chromosome 9 open reading frame 86 (C9orf86) is a novel subfamily of GTPases. Previous studies have implicated C9orf86 as a potential oncogene. Methods: C9orf86 expression was detected in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and human bronchial epithelial (16HBE) cell lines by RT-PCR and western blotting. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect 180 consecutive NSCLC specimens and 16 normal lung tissues. The correlation between C9orf86 expression and clinicopathological parameters was evaluated. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox hazards ratio models were used to estimate the effect of C9orf86 expression on survival. Results: C9orf86 was expressed in the cytoplasm in 74 of 180 (41.11%) NSCLC specimens. In clinical pathology analysis, C9orf86 expression significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and clinical stage significantly (P < 0.05). Multivariable analysis confirmed that C9orf86 expression increased the risk of death after adjusting for other clinicopathological factors (P < 0.01). Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were significantly prolonged in the C9orf86 negative group compared to the C9orf86 positive group (P < 0.001). Adjuvant chemotherapy prolonged OS and DFS in resected NSCLC patients with C9orf86 negative expression (P < 0.001) but not C9orf86 positive. Conclusions: Positive expression of C9orf86 is an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC patients, and C9orf86 may serve as a prognostic biomarker for patients with NSCLC.