AUTHOR=Zhang Yanwei , Sun Beibei , Hu Minjuan , Lou Yuqing , Lu Jun , Zhang Xueyan , Wang Huimin , Qian Jialin , Chu Tianqing , Han Baohui 

TITLE=CXCL9 as a Prognostic Inflammatory Marker in Early-Stage Lung Adenocarcinoma Patients

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.01049

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2020.01049

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> This study was performed to evaluate the value of inflammatory biomarkers in predicting the prognosis of early-stage (stage IA-IIB) lung adenocarcinoma.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Ten inflammatory biomarkers were tested with a Luminex bead-based assay in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients who underwent resection.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A total of 152 early-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients were analyzed in this study. The mean patient age (SD) was 59.9 (9.4) years. In total, 58.6% of patients were females, and never smokers accounted for 84.0%. Lung adenocarcinoma patients with high CXCL9 levels had a 71% reduced risk of recurrence relative to patients with low CXCL9 levels (<italic>HR</italic> = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.13–0.64, <italic>p</italic> = 0.0021). After Bonferroni correction, CXCL9 remained significantly related to the risk of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma recurrence. Lung adenocarcinoma patients with high CXCL9 levels had an 80% reduced risk of death relative to patients with low CXCL9 levels (<italic>HR</italic> = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.05–0.78, <italic>p</italic> = 0.021), and those in the TCGA validation cohort were at a 29% reduced risk of death (<italic>HR</italic> = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.45–0.99, <italic>p</italic> = 0.044).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Our results demonstrate for the first time that the CXCL9 level is a protective factor for both disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients.</p>