The expression of ERβ2, Bcl-xl and Bax in non-small cell lung cancer and associated with prognosis

Lung cancer is now the leading cause of related death in the world, non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) in predominant type of lung cancer. In this study, we mainly discuss expression, distribution, and prognostic significance of ER beta 2, Bcl-xl and Bax in NSCLC. The expression of ER beta 2, Bcl-xl and Bax were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and then the staining was evaluated and correlated with clinic and pathologic characteristics, overall survival (OS). ER beta 2, Bcl-xl and Bax were localized in NSCLC, and they were over-expressed all in NSCLC (P<0.05) compared with BPL tissues. IHC results showed that ER beta 2, Bcl-xl and Bax were not correlated with gender, age, smoking index, histological type, regional lymph node metastasis, whereas it was correlated with TNM staging of patients. In a Kaplan Meier analysis, the higher expression of ER beta 2, Bcl-xl and Bax was correlated with good OS. ER beta 2, Bcl-xl and Bax may be prognostic factors in NSCLC and useful to clinic trials.