High O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase expression predicts poor survival in patients with early stage lung adenocarcinoma

Tumor cell heterogeneity can make selection of appropriate interventions to lung cancer a challenge. Novel biomarkers predictive of disease risk and treatment response are needed to improve personalized treatment strategies. O-GlcNAcylation, the attachment of β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) to serine or threonine residues of intracellular proteins, modulates protein functions and is implicated in cancer pathogenesis. O-GlcNAc-transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA) catalyze O-GlcNAc addition and removal, respectively. We used immunohistochemistry to explore the utility of OGT, OGA, and O-GlcNAc as potential biomarkers for lung adenocarcinoma. We found that high OGT expression is associated with poor overall survival (OS) in both stage I patients (P=0.032) and those at variable stages of disease (P=0.029), and with poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) in stage I patients (P=0.035). High OGT expression is also associated with poorer OS in patients with EGFR wild-type tumors at variable stages (P=0.038). Multivariate analysis indicated that OGT expression is an independent prognostic factor for RFS (HR 2.946, 95% CI: 1.411–6.150, P=0.004) and OS (HR 2.002, 95% CI: 1.183–3.391, P=0.010) in stage I patients. Our findings indicate OGT is a promising biomarker for further classifying early stage lung adenocarcinomas.