Abstract
Non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a type of epithelial lung cancer and associated with cigarette smoking (passive or active). Melanoma-associated antigen 3 (MAGE-A3) is widely expressed in various types of tumours, including NSCLC. This study aimed to examine the MAGE-A3 expression in forceps biopsy specimens as a tumour biomarker to be used for early diagnosis and screening of lung cancer. This study was an observational, analytical study with a cross-sectional study design. The sample size was determined based on Ronald Fisher’s classic z transformation formula, and samples were selected using consecutive sampling. The study population included 14 lung tumour patients. Samples were obtained by forceps biopsy with bronchoscopy guidance. Histopathological analysis was carried out using Giemsa staining. The expression of MAGE-A3 was determined using RT-PCR. All data were analysed using SPSS statistics software (IBM SPSS Statistics, IBM® SPSS® Statistics is a powerful statistical software platform RRID: SCR_019096). In this study, there were 6 subjects (42.9%) with NSCLC adenocarcinoma and 8 subjects (57.1%) with squamous cell carcinoma. The positive MAGE-A3 expression was found in 5 (35.7%) of the total research subjects, and the expression on RT-PCR analysis was at 569 bp. We found that MAGE 3 gene was mostly expressed in adenocarcinoma of NSCLC, even though there was no statistical correlation with histopathological results (P > 0.05). MAGE-A3 expression in forceps biopsy specimens of NSCLC was mostly found in the adenocarcinoma type at 569 bp. Therefore, it could be used as a tumour biomarker for early diagnosis and screening of lung cancer.