Prognostic significance of centrosomal protein 55 in stage I pulmonary adenocarcinoma after radical resection

Background Pulmonary adenocarcinoma is a predominant pathologic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a high morbidity in China. Even at histological stage I, many patients still experience recurrence after radical surgery; therefore, it is critical to determine useful indicators to stratify patients according to recurrent risk. Centrosomal protein 55 (CEP55) shares certain characteristics with oncogenes and aberrant expression of CEP55 can lead to tumorigenesis. Therefore, we aimed to clarify the clinicopathological significance and prognostic value of CEP55 in stage I pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Methods We enrolled 106 patients with stage I pulmonary adenocarcinoma who had received complete resection in our study. CEP55 expression levels in the pulmonary tissues of all patients were validated by Western blot analyses and immunohistochemistry. SPSS 17.0 software was employed to analyze the correlation between CEP55 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of patients, as well as prognosis. Results CEP55 overexpression was detected in 67 patients (63.2%). Overexpression is associated with tumor differentiation (P = 0.036), T stage (P = 0.000) and visceral pleural invasion (P = 0.009). Patients with CEP55 overexpression had worse survival compared with those with low expression (P = 0.043). Univariate analysis revealed that T stage (P = 0.000), differentiation degree (P = 0.002), visceral pleural invasion (P = 0.000), and tumor size (P = 0.013) were also significant prognostic factors. Conclusion CEP55 is a useful predicator to improve stratification of patients with stage I pulmonary adenocarcinoma.