Association Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 with Lung Cancer

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Ertuğrul A. V., Ömeroğlu Şimşek G., Aktaş T. Ç., Keskinkılıç M., Aktaş S.

İzmir Kâtip Çelebi Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, cilt.9, sa.1, ss.81-86, 2024 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

Objective: The lung is one of the organs that contain the most angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptor. There are very few studies in the literature showing the association between ACE-2 expression and lung cancer. This study aims to investigate the expression of ACE-2 in lung cancer (adenocarcinoma and squamous cell lung carcinoma) and healthy lung tissue. Material and Method: ACE-2 receptors were studied by immunohistochemistry (IHC) method in 67 patient tissues diagnosed between 2013 and 2014 in the Bioarchive of Dokuz Eylul University Department of Basic Oncology. ACE-2 expressions were evaluated under a light microscope. Expression values were expressed as percentages (%). Clinical findings and ACE-2 expression results were evaluated with the statistical method over p<0.05. The KaplanMeier test evaluated the effect of ACE-2 expression on lung cancer survival. Results: We showed that ACE-2 expression was increased in lung cancer tissues compared to healthy tissues. 2.24±6.39 (95% CI: 1.85 – 8.39) in healthy tissue, 9.52 ±17.14 (95% CI: 5.90 – 14.07) in tumor tissue (Wilcoxon test; p=0.049). ACE2 was highly expressed in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) (p=0.002). (Healthy tissue: 2.31%±7.198%, Tumor tissue: 15.06±21.139%). ACE-2 expression was higher in advanced lung adenocarcinoma cases compared to early-stage cases. There was no significant correlation between ACE-2 and EFS (event-free survival) and OS (overall survival). Conclusion: ACE-2 expression was significantly increased in lung cancer tumor tissue compared to healthy tissue. Furthermore, increased ACE-2 expression in squamous cell lung cancer and advanced-stage lung adenocarcinoma compared to early-stage led us to suggest it can potentially be a diagnostic or prognostic lung cancer biomarker. However, more scientific studies are needed.