Abstract
BACKGROUND: Matrix-remodeling associated 5 (MXRA5) has recently been one of the frequently mutated gene but its role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To identify whether MXRA5 could be applied as a novel prognostic marker for NSCLC. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, we proved that mRNA and protein expression of MXRA5 in 166 NSCLC patients' tissues by Quantitative Real-Time PCR and immunohistochemical staining respectively. Moreover, the correlation between MXRA5 protein expression and clinicopathological features and prognosis in NSCLC patients was evaluated. Our results revealed that the over-expression of MXRA5 was significantly correlated with age (P = 0.049), differentiation (P = 0.003), tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage (P = 0.017) and smoking cigarette (P = 0.007). In addition, it also showed that patients with higher MXRA5 protein expression had significantly shorter overall survival (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that over-expression of MXRA5 protein was an independent prognostic factor for NSCLC. CONCLUSIONS: MXRA5 protein is aberrantly expressed in NSCLC and the high MXRA5 expression is correlated with tumor progression and overall survival. These results indicated the potential value of MXRA5 as a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of NSCLC.