Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Brain metastasis (BM) is a serious complication of advanced lung adenocarcinoma and is a prominent factor leading to lung cancer mortality. In this study, the expression of the glycodelin protein was analyzed in EGFR-mutant tyrosine kinase inhibitor-sensitive advanced lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: This study features a retrospective analysis of 74 advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients treated at our hospital from January 2010 to December 2017. The expressions of glycodelin were assessed by standard immunohistochemistry and correlated with clinicopathological factors and overall survival (OS) outcomes. RESULTS: Patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma with glycodelin overexpression were prone to BM (P < 0.05), and exhibited significantly shortened OS (11.8 months vs 20.4 months, P < 0.05). Multivariate regression analysis showed that overexpression of glycodelin and brain metastases were independent factors affecting the prognosis of advanced lung adenocarcinoma (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The overexpression of glycodelin is closely related to the presence of brain metastasis in lung adenocarcinoma, and can be used as an auxiliary diagnostic index for prognosis of advanced lung adenocarcinoma.