Immunofluorescence Assessment of TUBB3 Expression in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Tissue by Flow Cytometry: A 50% Marker Hyperexpression Threshold for Risk Stratification in Stage I Disease

An immunofluorescence analysis of TUBB3 expression was performed in tissue samples from patients with stage I and stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, n = 65). A TUBB3 level of 50% demonstrated discriminatory ability for predicting disease outcomes, while ROC analysis confirmed that TUBB3 ≥50% can stratify patients with stage I NSCLC into a group with an aggressive disease course. Tumor TUBB3 hyperexpression ≥50% may serve as an additional criterion when selecting a management strategy for patients with stage I NSCLC who have undergone radical surgery, namely, adjuvant treatment or surveillance.