Increased high-mobility group A2 correlates with lymph node metastasis and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: High-mobility group A2 (HMGA2) has been investigated to be associated with tumorigenesis; however, the expression pattern and clinical significance of HMGA2 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to examine the expression of HMGA2 and to analyze its relationships with respect to clinico-pathological features and patient survival in NSCLC. METHODS: The expression level of HMGA2 was examined by Western blot and immunohistochemistry in NSCLC cells and tissues. The relationship between HMGA2 expression and survival of NSCLC patients was calculated by a Kaplan-Meier method and the evaluation of risk factor was determined by the multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: NSCLC tissues exhibited a higher expression level of HMGA2 compared to normal tissues (p < 0.05) and the expression level of HMGA2 was significantly associated with poor differentiation of NSCLC (p < 0.05), lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05) and advanced clinical stage (p < 0.05). Besides, HMGA2 was also confirmed to be elevated in NSCLC cells by Western blot. Moreover, increased expression of HMGA2 correlated with decreased survival of NSCLC patients (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HMGA2 was highly expressed in NSCLC tissues and cells and its overexpression was correlated with low-grade differentiation, lymph node metastasis, advanced clinical stage and poor survival time of NSCLC, which suggested that it could serve as a potential molecular marker and prognostic index for NSCLC.