Prognostic Significance of Blood Group Antigen Expression of Tumor Tissue in Lung Cancer Patients

Abstract

Aims and background

Many prognostic factors have been evaluated both for SCLC and NSCLC. The prognostic significance of blood group antigen expression of tumor tissues has been studied particularly in NSCLC, yielding divergent results. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of the tumoral expression of blood group antigens ABH in lung cancer.

Methods

The presence of blood group antigens was assessed immunohistochemically in paraffin-embedded tumor samples from 92 patients diagnosed between 1996 and 1997. Monoclonal antibodies were used to detect blood group antigens.

Results

The median survival was longer in NSCLC patients whose tumors were positive for blood group antigen A (P = 0.009). Since the expression of blood group antigen A in tumor cells was limited to patients with type A or AB blood, survival analysis of these patients showed survival to be longer in non-small cell lung cancer patients with blood group antigen A-positive tumors (P = 0.0019).

Conclusions

Expression of blood group antigen A in tumor cells is an important, favorable prognostic factor in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, which could be useful to stratify patients with blood group A or AB according to possible outcome, and to guide therapeutic decision-making. The expression of blood group antigens ABH should be evaluated in larger series of lung cancer patients (including small and non-small cell lung cancer) with all blood types.