Clinicopathological relevance of tumor expression of NK group 2 member D ligands in resected non-small cell lung cancer.

Clinicopathological relevance of tumor expression of NK group 2 member D ligands in resected non-small cell lung cancer. Oncotarget. 2019 Nov 26;10(63):6805-6815 Authors: Okita R, Maeda A, Shimizu K, Nojima Y, Saisho S, Nakata M Abstract UL16-binding protein (ULBP) 1-6 and MHC class I chain-related molecule A and B (MICA/B) are NK group 2, member D (NKG2D) ligands, which are specifically expressed in infected or transformed cells and are recognized by NK cells via NKG2D-NKG2D ligand interactions. We previously reported that MICA/B overexpression predicted improved clinical outcomes in patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the clinicopathological features and prognostic significance of ULBPs in NSCLC remain unclear. Here,ULBP1-6 expression was evaluated based on immunohistochemistry of 91 NSCLC samples from patients following radical surgery. ULBPs were expressed by the majority of NSCLC. Either ULBP1 or ULBP2/5/6 overexpression was associated with squamous-cell carcinoma histology, whereas ULBP4 overexpression was associated with younger age and adenocarcinoma histology. Although overexpression of ULBP1-6 did not impact clinical outcomes in NSCLC patients, integrative profiling with cluster analysis classified patients into 3 subgroups based on the expression pattern of NKG2D ligands. The subgroup characterized by ULBP1 or ULBP2/5/6 high expressing but ULBP4 low expressing tumors showed poor overall surv...
Source: Oncotarget - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Oncotarget Source Type: research