The Correlation of PKC-α Expression and the Clinicopathologic Covariates in Pulmonary Non-small Cell Carcinoma

Objective 　To investigate the PKC-α expression and to discuss the correlation to the clinicopathologic covariates. Methods 　Immunohistochemistry and confocal laser scanning microscopy were used to detect PKC-αexpression in 60 human lung cancer tissues and 17 benign pulmonary lession tissues. Results PKC-αimmunoreactivity increased significantly from 17. 6 %(3/ 17) in benign pulmonary lession tissues to 76. 7 % (46/ 60) in lung cancer tissues ( P < 0. 01) . In addition, the expression level of PKC-α protein increased significantly from 50. 0 % in stage I cancer and 82. 6 % in stage II cancer to 90. 5 % in stage Ⅲcancer ( P < 0. 05) . The PKC-α immunoreactivity increased significantly with lymph node metastasis of lung cancer ( P < 0. 01) . Conclusion 　An increased PKC-αexpression is seen in lung carcinogenesis and metastasis. The expression of PKC-α is significantly correlated with advanced pathologic stage and metastasis in pulmonary non-small cell carcinoma.