Compared with the normal tissues (0/30), S100A2 experienced a dramatically upward trend of positive expression in lung cancer, with a positive rate of 68/109 (P<0.001).
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing alterations in the S100A2 gene proving a relation between changes in predominantly squamous lung cancer.
Our results suggest that S100A2 expression is suppressed early during lung carcinogenesis, possibly by hypermethylation of its promoter, and that its loss may be a contributing factor in lung cancer development or a biomarker of early changes in this process.