SUMMARY
Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) is a key inflammatory cytokine implicated in immune regulation and tumour biology. Its role in lung disease, particularly in relation to tumour differentiation and clinical risk, remains incompletely understood. This study aimed to evaluate the expression pattern of MIF in lung disease using gene expression profiling, assess its variation across histological grades, and determine its association with clinical risk. A secondary data-based exploratory analysis was conducted using microarray gene expression data from 442 lung tissue samples obtained from a publicly available dataset. MIF expression was extracted using probe ID 200799_at from the Affymetrix Human Genome U133A platform. Samples stratified based on histological differentiation into well, moderate, and poorly differentiated groups. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Welch’s t-test, Pearson correlation, and linear regression. MIF expression demonstrated a significant increase with decreasing tumour differentiation, with the highest levels observed in poorly differentiated tumours (11.05±0.68). Independent t-tests confirmed significant differences between all histological groups (p<0.05). However, correlation analysis revealed a weak and non-significant association with clinical risk (r=0.06, p=0.20) and regression analysis indicated minimal predictive power (R²=0.003). MIF expression is significantly associated with tumour differentiation in lung disease but lacks predictive value for clinical risk. These findings suggest that MIF serves as a marker of tumour biology rather than a standalone prognostic biomarker.
Keywords: macrophage migration inhibitory factor, lung cancer, gene expression, tumour differentiation

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