Background and objective: The bromodomain-containing protein 7 (BRD7) gene belongs to the bromodomain family. The majority of the members of this family are closely related to epithelial tumors. The aim of this study is to explore BRD7 expression and its clinical significance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods: BRD7 protein expression was detected in tissues samples from 101 NSCLC cases and 33 normal lung tissue samples using streptavidin-peroxidase immunohistochemistry.
Results: BRD7 expression was significantly higher in cancer tissues than that in normal lung tissues. Positive BRD7 expression in the lymph node metastasis group was significantly higher than that in the non-lymph node metastasis group. The positive expression rate of BRD7 increased with the increasing Tumor-Nodes-Metastasis (TNM) stage. No significant differences in positive BRD7 expression were observed with age, smoking, gender, pathology type, and degree of differentiation among the NSCLC patients (P>0.05).
Conclusions: BRD7 is highly expressed in NSCLC. In addition to the degree of differentiation and extent of lymphatic metastasis, BRD7 expression is correlated with TNM stage, which indicates that BRD7 may be related to the occurrence, development, and metastasis of lung cancers.
背景与目的: 溴区包含蛋白7（bromodomain-containing protein 7, BRD7）基因属于bromodomain家族成员，该家族的大多数成员与上皮类肿瘤的发生密切相关。本研究旨在探讨BRD7在非小细胞肺癌（non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC）中的表达及其临床意义。
方法: 采用免疫组化法检测101例NSCLC癌组织及其33例正常肺组织中BRD7的表达情况。
结果: BRD7在NSCLC组织中的阳性表达率明显高于正常肺组织；BRD7在淋巴结转移组阳性表达率高于无淋巴结转移组；BRD7的阳性表达率随着TNM分期的升高而升高。BRD7的阳性表达与患者年龄、性别、吸烟情况、病理类型、分化程度无关（P>0.05）。
结论: BRD7在NSCLC中有较高的表达率，除了与淋巴结转移有关外，还与TNM分期有关，提示BRD7可能与肺癌的发生、发展和转移有关。