DNA polymerase-α as a putative early relapse marker in non-small cell lung cancer. An immunohistochemical study

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Abstract
The authors examined 72 fresh frozen sections of primary lung cancer using a monoclonal antibody for DNA polymerase‐α (POL‐α). The percentage of POL‐α‐positive cells was 17.3%. The tumors were divided into two groups. In one group, more than 5% of the POL‐α‐positive cells were designed POL‐α‐positive, and in the other group less than 5% were POL‐α‐negative. The incidence of POL‐α‐positive in men was statistically higher than that in women (P less than 0.05). The incidence correlated with the T (tumor) status, with a significance. Based on data on 43 patients with non‐small cell lung cancer and who underwent a complete resection, the 3‐year disease‐free survival rates of POL‐α‐positive and POL‐α‐negative cells were 42% and 81%, respectively (P less than 0.05). When the patients were restricted to the class of N0 disease or Stage I, all the patients diagnosed as a cases of a relapse of lung cancer were POL‐α positive. The 3‐year disease‐free survival rate of patients with POL‐α negative was 100%. Our data suggest that in cases of non‐small cell lung cancer, POL‐α expression is associated with the extent of malignancy and a recurrence. Thus POL‐α may prove to be a pertinent marker of an early relapse.