CD14 and CD44s Expression in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Objective: Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers with high mortality. Only 10-15% of the patients with lung cancer survive more than five years despite advanced treatment strategies. Features of tumor immunity are important in carcinogenesis, and immunological mechanisms must be clarified. The role of CD14 and CD44s proteins in tumor immunity of lung cancer is controversial, and studies on these proteins mostly were held on cancer cell lines. In this study, we aimed to investigate CD14 and CD44s protein expressions in tumor and normal tissues in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Material and Methods: Thirty patients (25 males and 5 females) with non-small cell lung cancer were included in this study. Specimens obtained during the surgery were frozen in liquid nitrogen, and sliced with a thickness of 5 pm using a microtome. Standard immunohistochemical procedures were used for staining and visualization. Differences in staining patterns between normal and tumor tissues were analyzed statistically with Chi-square test.Results: CD14 and CD44s protein expressions were found both in tumor and in the normal tissues. There was no statistically significant difference in staining patterns between normal and tumor tissues (p>0.05).Conclusion: The expression of the two molecules in both tumoral and healthy tissues demonstrates that different pathways of tumor immunity affect the prognosis of the patients. However, further studies are needed in different types of cancers with larger numbers of cases and different antibodies are needed to clarify the role of CD14 and CD44s.