Immunohistochemical properties of lipid peroxidation and prognosis in adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Glutathione-related enzymes are thought to influence the prognoses of patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung. In this study, the localization of these enzymes was examined immunohistochemically in the primary lesions and metastatic lymph nodes of 61 patients with primary adenocarcinoma. Strong immunoreactivity for glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) was found in tissue from patients with poor prognoses, while tissue from patients with favorable prognoses demonstrated only immunoreactivity for these enzymes. Therefore, believe that glutathione-related enzymes may serve as predictors of tumor resistance in patients with adenocarcinoma, hence measuring these enzymes may be useful in determining the need for adjuvant therapy.