Coexpression of Actin-Related Protein 2 and Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Family Verproline-Homologous Protein 2 in Adenocarcinoma of the Lung

Purpose: Highly invasive and metastatic cancer cells, such as adenocarcinoma of the lung cells, form irregular protrusions by assembling a branched network of actin filaments. In mammalian cells, the actin-related protein 2 and 3 (Arp2/3) complex initiates actin assembly to form lamellipodial protrusions by binding to Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WASP)/WASP family verproline-homologous protein 2 (WAVE2). In this study, colocalization of Arp2 and WAVE2 in adenocarcinoma of the lung was investigated to elucidate its prognostic value. Experimental Design: Immunohistochemical staining of Arp2 and WAVE2 was done on mirror sections of 115 adenocarcinomas of the lung from pathologic stage IA to IIIA classes. Kaplan-Meier disease-free survival and overall survival curves were analyzed to determine the prognostic significance of the coexpression of Arp2 and WAVE2. Results: Immunoreactivity for both Arp2 and WAVE2 was detected in the same cancer cells in 78 (67.8%) of the 115 lung cancer specimens. The proportion of cancer cells expressing both Arp2 and WAVE2 was significantly higher in cases with lymph-node metastasis ( P = 0.0046), and significantly lower in bronchioloalveolar carcinomas ( P < 0.0001). The patients whose cancer cells coexpressed them had a shorter disease-free survival time ( P < 0.0001) and overall survival time ( P < 0.0001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that coexpression of Arp2 and WAVE2 is an independent risk factor for tumor recurrence. Conclusions: Coexpression of Arp2 and WAVE2 is correlated with poorer patient outcome, and may be involved in the mechanism of cancer metastasis.