Abstract:Objective To explore the role of caspase-1 (CASP1) in the development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Lung tumor and adjacent normal samples from 25 NSCLC patients were collected at the Affiliated Hospital of North China University of Science and Technology from 2010 to 2014. CASP1 protein expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Gene expression database of normal and tumor tissues (GENT) was used to analyze the difference of CASP1 expression between lung cancer and normal lung tissues. Results Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that CASP1 protein expression in the lung tumor tissues (0.021 ± 0.004) was lower than that in the adjacent tissues [(0.083 ± 0.008), t = -8.554, P = 0.000]. Analysis of the CASP1 data from GENT revealed that CASP1 expression in the lung cancer tissues was significantly lower than that in the normal tissues in both U133plus2 (Z = -7.037, P = 0.000) and U133A platforms (Z = -2.898, P = 0.004). The protein expression of CASP1 in the well-differentiated lung cancer (0.027±0.006) was higher than that in the poorly-differentiated lung cancer [(0.007 ± 0.002), P =0.001], but not significantly different from that in the moderately-differentiated lung cancer [(0.017 ±0.003), P = 0.056]. There was no significant difference in the CASP1 expression between the lung adenocarcinoma (0.019 ± 0.003) and squamous cell carcinoma [(0.012 ± 0.004), t = 1.382, P = 0.180]. Conclusions CASP1 expression is down-regulated in non-small cell lung cancer tissues, which indicates that CASP1 protein expression may contribute to the development of NSCLC.