Clinical significance of SOX9 in human non-small cell lung cancer progression and overall patient survival

Background Sex determining region Y (SRY)-related high mobility groupbox 9 (SOX9) is an important transcription factor required for development, which regulates the expression of target genes in the associated pathway. The aim of this study was to describe the expression of SOX9 in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to investigate the association between SOX9 expression and progression of NSCLC. Methods SOX9 protein and mRNA expression in normal human pneumonocytes, lung cancer cell lines, and eight pairs of matched lung cancer tissues and their adjacent normal lung tissues were detected by Western blotting and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Immunohistochemistry was used to determine SOX9 protein expression in 142 cases of histologically characterized NSCLC. Statistical analyses were applied to test for prognostic and diagnostic associations. Results SOX9 in lung cancer cell lines was upregulated at both mRNA and protein levels, and SOX9 mRNA and protein were also elevated in NSCLC tissues compared with levels in corresponding adjacent non-cancerous lung tissues. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated a high expression of SOX9 in 74/142 (52.1%) paraffin-embedded archival lung cancer biopsies. Statistical analysis indicated that upregulation of SOX9 was significantly correlated with the histological stage of NSCLC (P = 0.017) and that patients with a high SOX9 level exhibited a shorter survival time (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis illustrated that SOX9 upregulation might be an independent prognostic indicator for the survival of patients with NSCLC. Conclusions This work shows that SOX9 may serve as a novel and prognostic marker for NSCLC, and play a role during the development and progression of the disease.