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Endocan Expression and Relationship with Survival in Human Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

Authors' Affiliations: ¹ Institut National de la Santé et de la Reserche Médicale U774; ² Institut Pasteur de Lille; ³ Pulmonary and Thoracic Oncology Department and ⁴ Department of Pathology, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille; ⁵ Statistics Department, Medical School of Lille, Université de Lille 2, Lille, France; ⁶ Department of Pulmonary Diseases, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania; and ⁷ Endotis Pharma, Loos, France

Requests for reprints: Bogdan Dragos Grigoriu, Institut National de la Santé et de la Reserche Médicale U416, Rue du Professeur Calmette, 59000 Lille, France. Phone: 33-6-26-76-29-37; E-mail: b_grigoriu{at}hotmail.com.

Purpose: We evaluated the expression of endocan, a soluble lung- and kidney-selective endothelial cell-specific dermatan sulfate proteoglycan, in non–small cell lung tumors compared with normal lung and studied the significance of high levels of circulating endocan in patients with non–small cell lung cancer.

Material and Methods: Endocan and vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA expression were evaluated by semiquantitative PCR in tumoral and nontumoral lung tissue samples from a first series of 24 patients submitted to curative surgery. Relationships between survival, time to tumor progression, and serum levels of endocan were evaluated in a second series of 30 previously untreated patients addressed for staging.

Results: In non–small cell lung cancers, endocan mRNA was overexpressed compared with control lung. Immunohistochemistry shows that endocan was expressed only by tumor endothelium in all cases, especially in the periphery of the tumors, with no differences between adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Endocan and vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA expression was positively correlated in lung tumors. Serum endocan levels, as well as tumor, node, and metastasis status, were correlated with both survival and time to tumor progression. However, endocan serum level was not an independent prognostic factor due to its correlation with the presence of metastasis.

Conclusion: Endocan is overexpressed in non–small cell lung tumors compared with healthy lung and probably represents a response of tumoral endothelium to proangiogenic growth factor stimulation. Circulating levels of endocan might reflect tumor angiogenic stimulation and present prognostic significance.

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