Prognostic significance of carbonic anhydrase IX overexpression in stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients after neoadjuvant treatment

Abstract Background To assess the prognostic importance of carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX), a hypoxic biomarker, after neoadjuvant treatment in Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods Tissue CA IX expression was examined after surgical resection in 77 patients who had undergone neoadjuvant treatment. The effects of CA IX overexpression and other clinical factors on disease-free survival and overall survival were investigated. Results In multivariate analysis, number of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CT) courses and gender emerged as significant independent predictors for disease-free survival, where administration of 2–3 courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (CT) (HR, 3.2 [95% CI 1.3–7.6], p = 0.009) and female gender were associated with poor survival (HR, 3.2 [95% CI 1.3–7.7], p = 0.009). The only significant independent predictor for overall survival was recurrence (HR, 5.6 [95% CI 2.4–12.8], p  Discussion Our results do not suggest a prognostic role for CA IX overexpression in stage III NSCLC patients who received neoadjuvant treatment.