Prognostic significance of IMMT expression in surgically‐resected lung adenocarcinoma

Background Mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to many types of human disorders and cancer progression. Inner membrane mitochondrial protein (IMMT) plays an important role in the maintenance of mitochondrial structure and function. The aims of this study were to examine IMMT expression in lung adenocarcinoma and evaluate its correlation with clinicopathological parameters and patient prognosis. Methods IMMT expression was immunohistochemically studied in 176 consecutive lung adenocarcinoma resection tissues, and its correlations with clinicopathological parameters were evaluated. Kaplan‐Meier survival analysis and Cox‐proportional hazards models were used to estimate the effect of IMMT expression on survival. Results High‐IMMT expression was detected in 84 of 176 (47.7%) lung adenocarcinomas. Levels were significantly correlated with advanced disease stage (stage II and III; P = 0.024), larger tumor size (>3 cm; P = 0.002), intratumoral vascular invasion (P