Fig. 4.

hMENAΔv6 increases and hMENA^11a reduces the FN1 expression in NSCLC cell lines and low level of FN1 in the stroma of high hMENA^11a expressing tumors is a good prognostic factor in early node-negative NSCLC patients. a Western blot analysis of A549 cells transfected with empty vector (CNTR), hMENAΔv6, and hMENA^11a with the indicated Abs. The fold increase or reduction of FN1 protein expression in hMENAΔv6- or hMENA^11a-transfected cells of different experiments is reported on the right. Data are reported as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. b Consecutive sections of representative cases of NSCLC decorated with Pan-hMENA, hMENA^11a, and FN1 Abs. All magnification values are × 20. Scale bar = 30 µm. c Immunohistochemical characterization of 114 node-negative NSCLC tissues showing that hybMENA^11a pos (high hMENA^11a /low hMENA [t]) cases more frequently express low FN1 level in the stroma. p value was estimated with Fisher Exact test. d–f Kaplan–Meier estimate of disease-free survival (DFS) of resected, node-negative, NSCLC patients according to dichotomized hybMENA^11a and stromal FN1 expression