Background: Non-small cell lung cancer [NSCLC] has a poor prognosis. Therefore, knowing the factors to predict the prognosis is necessary. Tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases [TIMPs] are the enzymes that reduce the destruction of the extracellular matrix, which in turn reduces the stromal invasion by a tumor and may cause a better prognosis in lung cancer. TIMP-2 is the major type in the TIMP family that inhibits stromal destruction. The p27 is a tumor-suppressor gene theoretically controlled by the TIMP-2 gene.

Objective: To evaluate the expression of both TMP-2 and p27 as prognostic factors.

Materials and Methods: The present study used immunohistochemical staining to detect the expression of TIMP-2 and p27 in 106 and 91 cases of NSCLC, respectively. The survival analysis of each group was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier curve, log rank test, and Cox’s proportional hazard regression model.

Results: The results showed no correlation between the expression of TIMP-2 and p27 (p = 0.621). The log rank test showed no difference between the survival period of TIMP-2 positive and the negative cases (p = 0.17). However, multivariate analysis demonstrated that TIMP-2 positive was an independent prognostic factor. Furthermore, TIMP-2 expression indicated good prognosis in patients who received chemotherapy (p = 0.0079). The expression of p27 immunostaining did not correlate with the survival period (p = 0.30).

Conclusion: The expression of TIMP-2 is an independent prognostic factor to predict the prognosis in NSCLC patients who receive chemotherapy. The expression of p27 does not correlate with the prognosis.

Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer, Tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases [TIMPs], p27, Prognosis