Abstract 1995P
Background
Cannabinoid receptor CB2 expression has been identified to be high in various malignant neoplasms and it is involved in the pathophysiological mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Lung cancer is an important health problem and new biomarkers are needed for better patients’ stratification. This study was conducted to elucidate the clinical significance of cannabinoid receptor CB2 expression in NSCLC.
Methods
Cannabinoid receptor CB2 expression was evaluated immunohistochemically on Tissue MicroArrays (TMAs) of 79 tissue samples from NSCLC patients and it was correlated to clinicopathological parameters and overall survival (OS).
Results
79 NSCLC patients (48 adenocarcnomas and 31 squamous carcinomas) were studied. Enhanced cannabinoid receptor CB2 expression was observed in 20/79 (25.3%) NSCLC patients. In particular, enhanced cannabinoid receptor CB2 expression was found in 9 out of 48 (18.8%) adenocarcinomas and in 11 out of 31 (35.5%) of squamous cell carcinomas. Cannabinoid receptor CB2 expression was significantly associated with sex, smoking history and histological type (p=0.019, p=0.022 and p=0.032, respectively). In adenocarcinomas, cannabinoid receptor CB2 expression was correlated with overall survival (log-rank test, p=0.031), while there was a trend for correlation with tumor size (p=0.091) and lymph node metastasis (p=0.074). However, in squamous carcinomas cannabinoid receptor CB2 expression was not found to be significantly correlated with any of clinicopathological parameters or survival.
Conclusions
Cannabinoid receptor CB2 receptor may be involved in NSCLC malignant tranformation and growth particularly in adenocarcinomas. Therefore, cannabinoid receptor CB2 receptor could be considered as a potential biomarker or a therapeutic target in NSCLC. More studies needed to elucidate the role of this molecule in NSCLC.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
First Department of Pathology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.