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Aims High expression of the RNA-binding motif protein 3 (RBM3) correlates with improved prognosis in several major types of cancer. The aim of the present study was to examine the prognostic value of RBM3 protein and mRNA expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods and results Immunohistochemical expression of RBM3 was evaluated in surgically treated NSCLC from two independent patient populations (n = 213 and n = 306). Staining patterns were correlated with clinicopathological parameters, overall survival (OS), and recurrence-free interval (RFI). Cases with high nuclear RBM3 protein expression had a prolonged 5-year OS in both cohorts when analyzing adenocarcinomas separately (P = .02 and P = .01). RBM3 remained an independent prognostic factor for OS in multivariable analysis of cohort I (HR 0.44, 95% CI 0.21-0.90) and for RFI in cohort II (HR 0.38, 95% CI 0.22-0.74). In squamous cell carcinoma, there was instead an insignificant association to poor prognosis. Also, the expression levels of RBM3 mRNA were investigated in 2087 lung adenocarcinomas and 899 squamous cell carcinomas assembled from 13 and 8 public gene expression microarray datasets, respectively. The RBM3 mRNA levels were not clearly associated with patient outcome in either adenocarcinomas or squamous cell carcinomas. Conclusions The results from this study support that high protein expression of RBM3 is linked to improved outcome in lung adenocarcinoma., QC 20201214

Background: Smoking is by far the most important cause of lung cancer. However, lung cancer among never-smokers is common and increasing [1]. A smoking-independent subgroup of lung adenocarcinoma with certain molecular and clinical features exists [2-3]. Therefore, as 1st project within the Swedish Molecular Initiative against Lung cancer (SMIL) we aim to characterize never-smoking lung cancer for etiological, diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Method: Through the Swedish National Lung Cancer Registry [1], we identified all individuals who underwent surgery for lung cancer in Sweden 2005-2014 and who were registered as never-smokers (n=540). At each study site (n=6), clinical data were reviewed by a thoracic oncologist/pulmonologist through patients' medical charts and archived tumor tissues were retrieved and reviewed by a thoracic pathologist. For subsequent studies, we extracted DNA and RNA (using the Qiagen AllPrep kit for FFPE tissue) and constructed tissue microarrays. As a first pre-planned analysis, we performed fusion gene mapping using an RNA-based NanoString nCounter Elements assay, as previously described [4]. Result: In the first 212 (out of 540) analyzed samples, we detected 17 fusions involving ALK, 8 involving RET, and 2 involving NRG1. In addition, MET exon 14 skipping was found in 17 samples. In total, these findings involved 21% of analyzed cases. Additional results from further studies on the cohort will be presented. Conclusion: SMIL is an ongoing nation-wide molecular research collaboration on lung cancer where we currently collect one of the largest never-smoking lung tumor cohorts worldwide. From the first pre-planned analyses, we conclude that, in a population-based cohort of early stage lung cancer from never-smokers, druggable oncogenic fusions are frequent.