Expression and significance of PCNA and Caspase-3 in the tissue of lung cancer

AIM: To investigate the significance of PCNA and Caspase-3 in lung cancer. METHODS: PCNA and Caspase-3 in 80 patients diagnosed with lung cancer were semi-quantitatively analyzed by using SP immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: The positive rate of Caspase-3 and PCNA were 32.5% and 65%, respectively. Both were much lower or higher than those normal lung tissues (P<0.05). Caspase-3 protein was correlated to lymph node metastasis, pathological type and differentiation grade (P<0.05). Meanwhile, PCNA was correlated to lymph node metastasis, differentiation grade and pathological staging of lung cancer (P<0.05), but not to pathological type. PCNA was negatively correlated to Caspase-3. PCNA (+)/Caspase-3(-) indicated the potential lower differentiation grade. CONCLUSION: Up-regulation of PCNA and down-regulation of Caspase-3 are correlated to the pathological type, lymph node metastasis, staging and differentiation grade in lung cancer, especially which is indicating its clinical treatment.