Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) is involved in the progression of many epithelial
cancers. However, its role in
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), another type of epithelial
cancer, remains unclear. We detected IGFBP2 expression using immunohistochemistry in surgically resected
tumors from 110 NSCLC patients, 37 of which had
metastases. The positive rate of IGFBP2 expression was compared between the metastatic and the non-metastatic group, and correlations of IGFBP2 expression with
metastasis and overall survival were analyzed. We also investigated the expression of IGFBP2 in microvesicles (MVs) collected from primary
lung cancer cell cultures, and in different locations of newly resected NSCLC
tumors, using immunoblotting. The overall positive rate of IGFBP2 expression in
lung cancer was 51.8 % and it was significantly higher in the metastatic group than in the non-metastatic group (70.3 and 42.5 % respectively, p < 0.01). And the higher the lymph node stage, the higher the positive rate. Cytoplasmic expression was predominant in the majority of the
tumors. Based on multivariate regression analysis, IGFBP2 was correlated with
metastasis and poor overall survival (Hazard ratio: 3.56 and 3.23 respectively). IGFBP2 was detectable in the MVs collected from IGFBP2 positive cell lines, and its expression was most abundant in the marginal region of the newly resected
tumors. IGFBP2 is associated with
metastasis and poor survival of
lung cancer. Its presence in MVs and high abundance in the marginal region of
tumors suggest that its association with
metastasis may be related to
tumor microenviroment remodeling in NSCLC.