Background: At present, little is known about the correlation between osteopontin (OPN) and P21 in primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of OPN and P21 and their correlation in NSCLC.
Methods: The expression of OPN and P21 was detected in 58 NSCLC tissues and 18 pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumor (PIP) as controls by immunohistochemical technique.
Results: The positive rate of OPN and P21 in NSCLC was 58.6% and 70.7% respectively, which was significantly higher than those in PIP (11.1% and 16.7%) (P=0.0008, P < 0.0001). There was a positive correlation between OPN and P21 expression (P < 0.0001). Lymph node metastasis was closely related to OPN expression (P=0.0367), but not to P21 expression (P=0.4898).
Conclusions: The abnormal expression of OPN and P21 in NSCLC may act in a synergistic way. Immunopositivity of OPN may suggest a potential risk of metastasis in NSCLC.