Correlation of Aquaporin 3 Expression with the Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Background and objective Lung cancer is a major health problem worldwide. The aim of this study is to investigate aquaporin 3 (AQP3) expression and its relationship with the clinicopathologic characteristics of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods AQP3 expression and the microvascular density (MVD) of tissue samples from 180 cases with NSCLC were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results AQP3 expression was negative in 25 (13.9%), positive in 67 (37.2%), and strongly positive in 88 (48.9%) of the 180 cases, which was significantly higher than that in the normal tissue (P<0.01). A significant correlation was found between AQP3 expression and MVD (P<0.01), whereas a high MVD was found among patients with strongly positive AQP3 expression. Male patients with positive or strongly positive AQP3 expression had significantly higher expression than female patients did (P=0.003). AQP3 expression was more significantly enhanced in adenocarcinoma than that in squamous cell carcinoma (P<0.001). Statistical analysis indicated that the positive rate of AQP3 expression in well-differentiated carcinoma was significantly higher than that in poorly differentiated tumors (P<0.001). Lymph node metastasis was positively correlated with high AQP3 expression (P=0.026). Conclusion AQP3 expression was closely correlated with MVD in NSCLC, whereas high MVD was frequently found in tumors with high AQP3 expression. AQP3, as a therapeutic target for inhibiting high AQP3 expression in NSCLC tissues, may weaken cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis