ALDH3B1 Is an Independent Prognostic Biomarker of Lung Adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death, and adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer. Although emerging evidence implicates the role of several aldehyde dehydrogenases in cancer progression, the expression and clinical significance of aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 in lung adenocarcinoma has never been studied. MATERIALS: In our study, the expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 in 250 cases of lung adenocarcinoma was detected with immunohistochemistry, and the patients were further divided into subgroups with different aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 expression. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction, we investigated the aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 messenger RNA in 20 lung adenocarcinoma and paired normal lung tissues. With the χ(2) test, we evaluated the clinical significance of aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 by analyzing its correlation with the clinicopathological factors. Propensity score matching was performed to balance the baseline of cohort. With univariate and multivariate analyses, we screened the prognostic factors of lung adenocarcinoma and identified the independent prognostic factors before and after the propensity score matching. RESULTS: Aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 expression was significantly associated with the sex and age of patients, tumor size, and histological grade. High expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 predicted the poor prognosis (P = .003). Moreover, male patients (P = .020), large tumor size (P = .009), advanced T stage (P = .001), positive lymphatic invasion (P < .001), and advanced tumor–node–metastasis stage (P < .001) were all the prognostic factors for unfavorable outcome. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 was an independent prognostic biomarker of lung adenocarcinoma, indicating the poor prognosis. In addition, after balancing the baseline characteristics by propensity score matching, we also demonstrated that aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 was an independent prognostic biomarker of lung adenocarcinoma (P = .007). CONCLUSIONS: Aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 was an independent prognostic biomarker of lung adenocarcinoma, indicating the unfavorable prognosis. Postoperative detection of aldehyde dehydrogenase 3B1 would help stratify the high-risk patients with lung adenocarcinoma and guide individual treatment.