SPARC is a possible predictive marker for albumin-bound paclitaxel in non-small-cell lung cancer

Objectives Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) produced good tumor response in cases with lung squamous cell carcinoma, one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) binds to albumin, suggesting that SPARC plays an important role in tumor uptake of nab-paclitaxel. There is as yet no predictive marker for cytotoxic agents against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and hence we believed that SPARC expression might be associated with tumor response to nab-paclitaxel.