The Expression of Polycytosine Binding Protein 2 and Ki67 in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Prospective Study

Background: Although polycytosine binding protein 2 (PCBP2) and nuclear associated Kiel 67 antigen (Ki67) have been exten-sively studied in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), their prognostic value remains controversial. This aim of this work was to investigate the expression of PCBP2 and Ki67 in NSCLC and their value for its prognosis. Methods: This prospective study selected a cohort of 84 NSCLC patients from Chongming Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, between November 2017 and December 2022. Univariate analysis and multivariate Logistic regression were carried out to analyze the relationship between expressions of PCBP2 and Ki67 and clinicopathological features in NSCLC patients. Results: PCBP2 was mainly expressed in cytoplasm and nucleus, with a positive rate of 70.23%. Ki67 was mainly expressed in the nucleus with a positive rate of 59.52%. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis (MLRA) showed that pathological clas-sification, degree of tumor differentiation, and lymph node metastasis (LNM) were factors influencing the high expression of PCBP2. Gender, pathological type, and degree of tumor differentiation were significantly associated with the high expression of Ki67. Compared with the 2-year survival rate of negative patients, that of PCBP2 positive and Ki67 positive patients was significantly lower (p < 0.05). Compared with shControl group, the proliferation ability of NSCLC A549 cells in shPCBP2 group was significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Conclusions: PCBP2 and Ki67 were upregulated in NSCLC tissues, promoting the proliferation of NSCLC. The high expressions of PCBP2 in NSCLC patients were significantly associated with pathological classification, degree of tumor differentiation, and LNM. The high expression of Ki67 in NSCLC patients was significantly associated with gender, pathological type, and degree of tumor differentiation. The prognosis of PCBP2 and Ki67 positive patients was significantly poorer than PCBP2 and Ki67 negative patients.