A favourable prognostic marker for EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer: immunohistochemical analysis of MUC5B

OBJECTIVES: To determine the use of the mucin proteins MUC5B and MUC5AC as prognosis markers for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carrying epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. SETTING: Patients who underwent surgical resection at Nagasaki University Hospital and related facilities in Japan between June 1996 and March 2013. PARTICIPANT: 159 Japanese patients (male: n=103; female: n=56) with NSCLC, who underwent surgical resection (EGFR-mutant type: n=78, EGFR wild type: n=81). RESULTS: Patients whose tumours expressed MUC5B had significantly longer overall survival and relapse-free survival compared to the MUC5B-negative patients with EGFR mutant NSCLC (p=0.0098 and p=0.0187, respectively). In patients with EGFR wild-type NSCLC, there was no association with MUC5B expression. MUC5AC expression was not different between EGFR mutant and wild-type NSCLC. CONCLUSIONS: Present findings indicate that MUC5B, but not MUC5AC, is a novel prognostic biomarker for patients with NSCLC carrying EGFR mutations but not for patients with NSCLC carrying wild-type EGFR.