NORTHERN BLOT ANALYSIS OF nm23 GENE EXPRESSION IN HUMAN LUNG CANCER

Objective: To investigate the role of nm23 geneexpression in human lung cancer. Methods: Forty humanlung cancer tissues and 19 non-cancer pulmonary tissueswere studied for their nm23-H1 and nm23-H2 mRNAexpnaion with noo-radioactive Northern blot hybridi-zation. The correlation of nm23 mRNA expression withclinical featllres of lung cancer was analyzed. Results: ThemRNA expression of nm23-H2 gene in poorly differentiatedsquamous cell carcinoma was significantly decreasedcompared to that in moderate-high differentiated squamouscell carcinoma. The mRNA expression of nm23-H1 andnm23-H2 gene in small cell lung cancer was sigulficantlydecreased compared to that in squamous cell carcinoma. Nosipecant difference in nm23 mRNA expression wasobserved between lung cancer with and without lymph nodemethetheis, nor was there significant difference betweentumor stuge. Conclusion: The mRNA expression of nm23gene is correlated with the degree of differentiation of lungcancer, but there is no evidence of metastheis suppressioneffect by nm23 gene.