Expression and prognostic significance of SLP-2 in gastric cancer

AIM: To investigate the expression of the red cell membrane integration protein SLP-2 (stomatin-like protein 2) in gastric cancer tissues and to analyze its correlation with clinicopathological manifestations and prognosis. METHODS: One hundred and ninety gastric cancer tissue samples with detailed clinical information were collected from the Department of Pathology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. The protein expression of SLP-2 in ganstric cancer was detected by the method of immunohistochemistry. The relationships between SLP-2 expression and the clinicopathological manifestations were evaluated. RESULTS: The positive rate of SLP-2 in gastric cancer tissue was 63.2% (120/190). SLP-2 expression was relevant to infiltration depth, TNM stage and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). However, no statistical difference was observed in the SLP-2 expression associated with sex, age, differentiation, tumor size and distant metastases. Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed that increased expression of SLP-2 was associated with poor prognosis in gastric adenocarcinoma patients (P<0.01). Based on the univariate analysis, 7 factors were found to have statistical significance of associations with overall survival, including SLP-2 expression, lymph node metastasis, histological grade, tumor size, invasive depth, distant metastases and the 7th edition of the UICC TNM classification. Only the tumor size and the 7th edition of the UICC TNM classification were independent prognostic factors for overall survival in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: SLP-2 is highly expressed in gastric adenocarcinoma tissues and may play an important role in tumor progression and metastasis. Although SLP-2 is not an independent prognostic factor, it may influence the prognosis of gastric cancer. Increased expression of SLP-2 can be used for predicting unfavorable prognosis in gastric adenocarcinoma patients.     

Expression and prognostic significance of cyclin D1, RBL2/p130 and MCM7 in hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the expression and prognostic significance of cyclin D1, retinoblastoma-like protein 2(RBL2/p130) and minichromosome maintenance protein 7(MCM7) in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC). METHODS: The expression of cyclin D1, RBL2/p130 and MCM7 in 44 HCC specimens, 26 adjacent noncancerous cirrhotic liver specimens and 18 normal liver specimens were detected by the method of immunohistochemistry. The correlations of cyclin D1, RBL2/p130 and MCM7 with the clinical parameters of HCC patients were analyzed. RESULTS: The positive expression rates of cyclin D1 and MCM7 in HCC were 68.2% and 72.7%, higher than those in normal livers and adjacent noncancerous cirrhotic livers(P<0.01). The positive expression rate of RBL2/p130 in HCC was 34.1%, lower than that in normal livers and adjacent noncancerous cirrhotic livers(P<0.01). The expression of MCM7 in HCC was positively correlated with the expression of cyclin D1(r=0.349, P<0.05), and negatively correlated with the expression of RBL2/p130(r=-0.421, P<0.01). The expression of cyclin D1 in HCC was negatively correlated with the expression of RBL2/p130(r=-0.435, P<0.01). The expression of MCM7 and cyclin D1 was associated with the integrity of tumor capsule, differentiation degree and TNM stage(P<0.05). The expression of MCM7 was also associated with tumor size and the value of alpha fetoprotein(AFP). The tumor size, the expression levels of MCM7 and cyclin D1 were correlated with the prognosis determined by multivariable analysis. The patients with positive expression of MCM7 and cyclin D1 had lower survival rate than those with negative expression(P<0.05). The patients with positive expression of RBL2/p130 had higher survival rate than those with negative expression(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The abnormal expression of cyclin D1, RBL2/ p130 and MCM7 plays an important role in the development of HCC, indicating that monitoring their expression in HCC patients may be helpful to the judgment of prognosis.     

《园艺学报》征稿简则

AIM:To investigate the prognostic value of biomarkers on predicting recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). METHODS:Fifty patients with HCC who underwent OLT between April 2002 and November 2005 with a minimum clinical follow up of 12 months were included in this retrospective study. We examined immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin with β-catenin, Ki-67 proliferative index and analyzed the correlation between these biomarkers with recurrence and survival, along with the main clinical-pathological variables.RESULTS:Only at univariate analysis, TNM, portal vein tumor thrombi were valuable on predicting recurrence and survival time (P<0.05), and preoperative serum AFP correlate to recurrence only at multivariate analysis (OR=2.552, P<0.05). Lower membrane expression of E-cadherin, nuclear β-catenin localization and high Ki-67 index showed notable significance on predicting recurrence and survival time at univariate analysis, as well at multivariate analysis, all P<0.01. The membrane expression of β-catenin did not correlate to the prognosis (P>0.05).CONCLUSION:These three biomarkers might have potential as a tumor prognostic marker for predicting recurrence of HCC after OLT and perhaps are better than the clinical-pathological variables.     

Expression of glypican-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical significance

AIM: To study the expression of glypican-3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and to clarify its clinical significance. METHODS: The expression of GPC3 was detected in 59 cases of HCC and their para-cancerous tissues, 10 cases of intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma (ICC), 11 cases of cirrhotic tissues and 14 cases of normal liver tissues (around haemangioma) by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical staining. The survival curves were constructed using Kaplan-Meier method and evaluated using the log-rank test. In addition, the Cox proportional hazards regression model was established to identify the factors that were independently associated with disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: The mRNA expression of GPC3 in the HCC tissues was significantly higher than that in the para-cancerous tissues (83.1% vs 35.6%, χ²=27.53, P<0.01). The protein expression of GPC3 in the HCC tissue was also higher than that in the para-cancerous tissues (78.0% vs 33.2%, χ²=24.97, P<0.01). The expression of GPC3 in ICC tissues, liver cirrhosis tissues and normal liver tissues was undetectable. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that the GPC3(+)HCC patients had worse 1-year DFS than that of GPC3(-) patients (33.6% vs 72.7%, P<0.05). The HCC patients with para-cancerous GPC3(+) also had worse 1-year DFS than that of the para-cancerous GPC3(-) patients (23.5% vs 40.1%, P<0.05). The DFS rate decreased significantly as the expression intensity of GPC3 increased. The Cox regression model analysis indicated that AFP(+) (odd ratio=0.372, 95% confidence interval: 0.140-0.900, P<0.05), tumor size (odd ratio=5.215, 95% confidence interval: 1.737-15.656, P<0.01), para-cancerous tissue GPC3(+) (odd ratio=0.226, 95% confidence interval: 0.085-0.599, P<0.01) and the intensity of GPC3 expression in HCC tissue (odd ratio=1.946, 95% confidence interval: 1.080-3.507, P<0.05) were the independent risk factors linked to DFS of patients. CONCLUSION: GPC3 protein is highly expressed in the HCC tissues,but not in ICC, cirrhotic liver and normal liver tissues. The expression of GPC3 in para-cancerous tissues and the intensity of GPC3 expression in HCC tissues are the important independent risk factors linked to DFS of patients.     

Expression and clinical significance of SCNM1 in hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the expression of sodium channel modifier 1 (SCNM1) in hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its relationship with clinicopathological features and prognosis.METHODS: The specimens were collected from 108 patients with hepatitis B-related HCC who were treated in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2013 to December 2015. All patients signed the informed consent and met the requirements of medical ethics. The mRNA expression level of SCNM1 in hepatitis B-related HCC tissues and tumor-adjacent tissues was detected by RT-qPCR, and the relationship between the mRNA expression of SCNM1 and the clinicopathological characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma was analyzed. The relationship between SCNM1 expression and the prognosis of the patients was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier plotter.RESULTS: The data from TCGA database, Human Protein Atlas database and Oncomine database showed that the expression of SCNM1 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in the normal liver tissues (P<0.01). SCNM1 was mainly distributed in the nucleus. The results of RT-qPCR showed that the median mRNA expression of SCNM1 in hepatitis B-related HCC tissues was significantly higher than that in the matched tumor-adjacent tissues (t=8.082, P<0.01). The mRNA expression of SCNM1 was correlated with cirrhosis, alanine aminotransferase and tumor size (P<0.05), but not with sex, age and tumor envelope. The total survi-val time of the HCC patients with high expression of SCNM1 was shorter than that of the patients with low expression of SCNM1 (HR=1.53, P=0.016), and that of the patients with hepatitis B-related HCC was even shorter (HR=2.41, P=0.015).CONCLUSION: SCNM1 is highly expressed in hepatitis B-related HCC and may play an important role in the development of hepatitis B-related HCC.     

Expression of Survivin and its relationship to prognosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To study the expression of Survivin and its relationship to prognosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).METHODS: The expression of Survivin protein in 83 cases of HCC and their neighboring noncancerous tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry.The expression of Survivin mRNA in 11 cases of HCC and their neighboring noncancerous tissues was detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR.RESULTS: Survivin protein expression was detected in 53 of 83 (63.9%) HCC tissues and 21 of 53 (39.6%) corresponding noncancerous tissues.22 of 53 Survivin-positive HCCs (41.5%) showed punctate nuclear staining in HCC cells,24 of 53 Survivin-positive HCCs (45.3%) showed cytoplasmic staining in HCC cells and the remaining 7 showed both nuclear and cytoplasmic staining.The positive rates of nuclear Survivin expression in cases of envelope invasion or tumor metastasis were significantly higher than those in cases without envelope invasion or tumor metastasis (P<0.05).The patients with positive nuclear Survivin expression had the higher chance of poor prognosis than those with negative nuclear Survivin expression (P<0.01).Survivin mRNA was detected in all the 11 HCC and 5 of 11 (45.5%) neighboring noncancerous tissues.CONCLUSION: There is a high expression of Survivin in HCC and positive nuclear Survivin may play an important role in malignant biological behavior and prognosis of HCC.     

Expression and clinical significance of Bmi-1 in colorectal cancer

AIM:This study was to investigate the expression and significance of Bmi-1 in colorectal carcinoma (CRC), and to explore the effect of Bmi-1 on Ki67 expression in human CRC.METHODS:The samples from sixty CRC, thirty adenomas and twenty normal colorectal mucosal tissues were used in this study.The expression of Bmi-1 protein was detected by immunohistochemistry.The clinicopathological features and survival rate of patients were also analyzed.RESULTS:The overexpression of Bmi-1 was respectively 25.0％, 6.7％and 0% in CRC and adenomas as well as normal colorectal mucosal tissues.The results showed that the expression of Bim-1 was significantly higher in CRC, compared with that in adenomas and normal colorectal mucosal tissues (P<0.05).The overexpression of Bmi-1 protein in CRC was obviously associated with distant metastasis and TNM stage (P<0.05), but not with gender, age, tumor size, tumor site, histological type, differentiation degree and lymph node metastasis (P>0.05).Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the overexpression of Bmi-1 reduced significantly survival of CRC patients (P<0.05).No statistical relation between expression of Bmi-1 and Ki67 in CRC was observed.CONCLUSION:The overexpression of Bmi-1 protein is significantly correlated with tumorigenesis, metastasis and prognosis of CRC.Bmi-1 might be regarded as a parameter in evaluating prognosis of CRC.     

Expression of chemokine CXCL17 and its clinical relevance in gastric carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the expression and distribution of chemokine CXCL17 in gastric cancer and its clinical significance.METHODS: The CXCL17 expression was detected by real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry. The correlation between the CXCL17 expression and clinicopathological features was statistically analyzed and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to evaluate the prognosis.RESULTS: A lower expression levels of CXCL17 were observed in the tumor tissues compared with the paired normal tissues (P < 0.05). Down-regulation of CXCL17 was associated with the degree of tumor differentiation and the size of tumor at primary site (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that increased CXCL17 in the tumor tissues was associated with longer survival time.CONCLUSION: The result might illustrate that CXCL17 acts as a key factor in the prognosis of gastric cancer and is closely associated with the progression of gastric cancer.     

Expression of GATA3 in human breast cancer tissues and its clinical significance

AIM: To investigate the expression of GATA3 in human breast carcinoma and its clinical significance. METHODS: The expression level of GATA3 in breast cancer tissues from 124 patients was detected by the method of immunohistochemistry and the relationships between GATA3 expression and other clinicopathological factors were analyzed. RESULTS: Low expression of GATA3 in breast cancer tissues was associated with estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) negative, high histological tumor grade, p53 mutation and vascular invasion (P<005), but not with age, tumor size,human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) expression and lymph node metastasis (P>005). In all breast cancer tissues, the positive expression rate of GATA3 was 56.4%. The positive expression rate of GATA3 in luminal breast cancer is 684%, higher than that in non-luminal breast cancer (326%, P<005). In all breast cancer tissues, the expression of GATA3 in middle recurrence risk group was higher than that in high recurrence risk group (P<005). CONCLUSION: GATA3 expression in breast cancer is related to differentiation and biological characteristics of the tumor, which can be a factor for evaluation of the treatment and prognosis.     

Prognostic significance of NAD(P)H-quinone oxidoreductase 1 overexpression in ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma

AIM: To investigate the significance of NAD(P) H-quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) protein overexpression for prognostic evaluation of ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma.METHODS: NQO1 protein was detected in 162 cases of ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma, 35 cases of ovarian mucinous cystadenoma and 29 samples of normal ovarian epithelial tissues by the method of EnVision immunohistochemical staining. The correlation between high expression of NQO1 protein and clinicopathological features of ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma was also evaluated. Overall survival and disease-free survival rates of ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma patients were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: The positive rate and strongly positive rate of NQO1 protein were 85.8% and 64.2% in ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma, respectively, which are significantly higher than those in ovarian mucinous cystadenoma, and normal ovarian epithelial tissues (P<0.01). NQO1 expression was significantly correlated with the histological grade (P<0.05) and clinical stage (P<0.01) of ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the overall survival rate and disease-free survival rate were significantly higher in ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma patients with high NQO1 expression than those with low NQO1 expression (P<0.01).CONCLUSION: NQO1 expression is closely correlated with the progression and prognosis of the patients with ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma. High expression of NQO1 protein may be used as an important indicator for the patients with poor prognosis of ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma.     

Abnormalities of miR-21 expression in human breast cancer is associated with distinctive pathologic features and shortened postoperative survival

AIM: To investigate the potential relevance of miR-21 expression level to clinicopathological characteristics and patient survival. METHODS: 113 BRCA cases with more then 5 years fallow-up data were selected. Total RNA from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues of 113 breast cancer (BRCA) and normal adjacent tissues (NATs) were isolated for miR-21 quantitative analysis by real-time RT-PCR. RESULTS: The miR-21 expression levels in BRCA were significantly higher than those in NATs (P<0.01) with average up-regulated level of 1.74 ± 0.48. Interestingly, high level expression of miR-21 was significantly correlated with advanced clinical stage (P<0.01), lymph node metastasis (P<0.01), and shorter survival of the patients ［hazard ratio (HR)=5.476, P<0.01］. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that miR-21 was one of independent prognostic impacts (HR=4.133, P<0.01) on BRCA. CONCLUSION: Over-expression of miR-21 is associated with poor prognosis of BRCA and may serve as an independent prognostic marker for BRCA.     

Correlation between expression of ALDH1/ABCG2 and microvessel formation in epithelial ovarian cancer

AIM: To elucidate the correlation between the expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1)/ATP-binding cassette subfaminly G member 2 (ABCG2) and microvessel density (MVD) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).METHODS: In 198 specimens of EOC and 60 specimens of ovarian benign epithelial tumor tissues, the protein expression of ALDH1/ABCG2 and CD105 (microvessel marker) was detected by immunohistochemical staining.RESULTS: The positive rates of ALDH1 and ABCG2 in the EOC were 64.1% and 61.6%, respectively, while the positive rates in benign epithelial tumor tissues were 8.3% and 6.7%, respectively, and there were significant differences between them (P<0.05). In EOC and benign epithelial tumor tissues, the MVD were 22.6±9.7 and 5.03±3.35, respectively, and the difference was also significant (P<0.05). The expression of ALDH1 and ABCG2 in EOC was significantly related to differentiation, FIGO stage,and abdominal organ and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). MVD had correlation with differentiation, FIGO stage, ascite, and abdominal organ and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). MVD had positive correlation with the expression of ALDH1 and ABCG2 (P<0.01). There was also a positive correlation between the expression of ALDH1 and ABCG2 (P<0.01). Over-expression of ALDH1/ABCG2 and MVD≥23 were related to the poor prognosis. The survival rates in ALDH1/ABCG2 positive and MVD≥23 groups were significantly lower than those in ALDH1/ABCG2 negative and MVD<23 groups (P<0.05). The FIGO stage, the expression of ALDH1/ABCG2 and MVD were indepen-dent prognosis factors of EOC (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the expression of ALDH1/ABCG2 and MVD in EOC are related to differentiation, lymph node metastasis, clinical stage and prognosis. Combined detection of these indexes may play an important role in predicting the progression and prognosis of EOC.     

Correlation between Mnk2 protein expression and prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the protein expression of mitogen-activated protein kinase-interacting kinase-2 (Mnk2) and its prognostic effect in the patients with resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: A total of 86 informative patients with surgically resected ESCC and 54 normal esophageal tissues were enrolled. Western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were utilized to assess the protein expression of Mnk2, and its correlation with prognosis was statistically analyzed by the methods of Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox proportional hazard mode. RESULTS: The protein expression of Mnk2 was elevated in most of tumor tissues compared with the adjacent tissues. Clinicopathologic analysis showed that Mnk2 expression was significantly correlated with the TNM stage (P<0.05). Both disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of Mnk2 over-expression patients were shorter than those in Mnk2 negative expression group. Multivariate analysis confirmed that Mnk2 expression, as an independent and significant factor for both DFS and OS, predicted a poor prognosis of the patients with resected ESCC (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of Mnk2 was significantly related to the TNM stages, and might be a novel predictor for prognosis in ESCC.     

Vasculogenic mimicry and E-cadherin expression in epithelial ovarian cancer

AIM: To explore whether vasculogenic mimicry (VM) exists in human epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), and to elucidate the relationship between E-cadherin (E-cad) expression and VM. METHODS: The E-cad expression and VM in 80 specimens of EOC and 20 specimens of benign ovarian epithelial tumor tissues were detected by the methods of immunohistochemical and histochemical staining. RESULTS: The positive rates of VM and E-cad protein in EOC were 57.4% and 48.7%, respectively.The positive rates of VM and E-cad protein in benign epithelial tumor tissues were 0% and 75.0%, respectively.There was a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The E-cad expression and VM in EOC was significantly related to differentiation, metastasis to abdominal organ and lymphnode, and PTNM stage (P<0.05). A negative relationship between the expression of E-cad and VM (r=-0.578,P<0.01) was also observed. PTNM stage, metastasis to abdominal organ and lymphnode, the expression of E-cad and VM were independent prognosis factors of EOC patients after total correction (P<0.05). The five-year survival rate between VM-positive group and VM-negative group was significantly different (4.3% vs 88.2%), while the five-year survival rate was significantly lower in E-cad-negative group than that in E-cad-positive group (9.8% vs 71.8%). CONCLUSION: EOC with VM has a poor differentiation and a bad clinical prognosis. The levels of VM and E-cad correlate with the progression and prognosis of EOC.     

Relationship between expression of COX-2 and clinicopathological features in esophageal carcinoma

AIM:To examine COX-2 expression in esophageal carcinoma, and to study relationships between COX-2 expression and clinicopathological features and prognosis of esophageal carcinoma patients. METHODS:89 paraffin - embedded tissue samples from patients with esophageal carcinoma were collected, its clinicopathological features such as tumour differentiation, depth of invasion, length and site of the tumor, regional lymph node metastases, distant metastasis were recorded. Survival time of 81 cases were also recorded. By SP immunohistochemistry method, the expression of COX-2 in tumor samples was examined. RESULTS:COX-2 expression in esophageal carcinoma was markedly higher than that in nomal esophagus, the expression was higher in less differentiated and deeper invaded cases (P<0.05), but it had no correlations with other clinicopathological features such as age,sex, length and site of the tumor, regional lymph node metastases, and distant metastasis (P>0.05). Cases of esophageal carcinoma with lower COX-2 expression had longer survival time than those with higher COX-2 expression (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS:COX-2 expression is higher in esophageal carcinoma than normal esophagus. COX-2 expression of esophageal carcinoma is higher in less differentiated and deeper invaded cases, but it has no correlation with age, sex, length and site of the tumor, regional lymph node metastases, and distant metastasis. Patients with lower COX-2 expression have longer survival time than those with higher COX-2 expression.     

Expression of Foxp3+ Tregs and PD1 in gastric cancer tissues and their correlation with clinicopathological factors and prognosis

AIM: To investigate the expression of Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells (Foxp3⁺ Tregs) and programmed death receptor 1 (PD1) in gastric cancer tissues and their association with clinicopathological factors and prognosis of the patients. The correlation between the 2 molecules was also analyzed at the same time. METHODS: The tumor sections from 111 gastric cancer patients were stained for Foxp3 and PD1 by the method of immunohistochemistry. The associations of the expression levels of these 2 molecules with clinicopathological factors involved in the disease progression and prognosis were statistically analyzed. The relationship of their expression was detected. RESULTS: Foxp3⁺ Tregs and PD1 were expressed in the gastric cancer tissues, and PD1 was expressed in the tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). The expression of Foxp3 and PD1 was correlated with lymph node metastasis, clinicopathological stage and prognosis of gastric cancer patients. The expression of these 2 determinants in the patients with lymph node metastasis and an advanced clinicopathological stage was distinctly higher (P <0.05). The patients with positive expression of the 2 indexes presented a lower overall survival rate and worse prognosis (P <0.05). A significantly positive correlation between the infiltration of Foxp3⁺ Tregs and the expression of PD1⁺ TILs was also observed (P <0.01).CONCLUSION: Foxp3⁺ Tregs and PD1⁺ TILs co-infiltrate in the gastric cancer tissues, which can be used as biological markers to predict the disease progression and prognosis.     

Expression and clinical significance of Bmi-1 in gastric carcinoma

AIM: To investigate the relationship between expression of Bmi-1 (B cell-specific MLV integration site-1) in gastric cancer and its clinicopathologic significance.METHODS: 146 surgical patients with gastric carcinoma were followed up at least 2 years.Expression of Bmi-1 protein was examined by immunohistochemistry in their archival paraffin embedded tissue specimens.RESULTS: The intensive positive rate of Bmi-1 expression in gastric cancer was 67.8% (99/146).Expression of Bmi-1 was highly correlated with tumor size,clinical stage,lymph node metastasis and T classification (P<0.05),but not with sex,age,tumor differentiation,etc.(P>0.05).The survival rate in the patients with Bmi-1 expression was much lower than that in those patients without Bmi-1 expression (P<0.01).Multivariate analysis indicated that Bmi-1 expression,T classification,lymph node metastasis,distant metastasis,tumor size and postoperative chemotherapy were all significantly prognostic factors of gastric carcinoma.CONCLUSION: Overexpression of Bmi-1 in patients with gastric carcinoma enhances the possibility of invasion and metastasis,implying a poor prognosis.Bmi-1 may serve as fairly a good prognostic factor to indicate biologic behavior and prognosis in gastric carcinoma.     

Expression and clinical significance of PAK4 in non-small cell lung cancer

AIM: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of PAK4 in the cell lines and tissues of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: PAK4 expression in human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells, NSCLC cell lines, NSCLC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues were assessed by immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR and Western blot. Prognostic value of PAK4 expression was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression. RESULTS: PAK4 was over-expressed in the NSCLC cell lines at both mRNA and protein levels compared with HBE cells (P<0.05). PAK4 was over-expressed in the NSCLC tissues at both mRNA and protein levels compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues (P<0.05). PAK4 was over-expressed in the metastatic NSCLC tissues compared with the primary NSCLC tissues (P<0.05). Higher PAK4 staining scores were positively correlated with differentiation, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and clinical stage. Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test showed that overall survival was significantly different between the patients with up-regulated PAK4 and the patients with down-regulated PAK4(P<0.05). PAK4 over-expression was associated with NSCLC progression.CONCLUSION: Increased PAK4 expression was associated with tumor invasion, metastasis and prognosis in the patients with NSCLC. PAK4 is an important prognostic marker and potential therapeutic target in NSCLC.     

Expression of Cdc25a in cross-species hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and its significance

AIM：To study the expression of cell division cycle 25a protein (Cdc25a) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues of different species, including human, rat and tree shrew, and to verify the feasibility of the strategy of cross-species oncogenomics screening. METHODS：Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blotting were applied to detect the expression of Cdc25a at mRNA and protein levels in the HCC tissues, corresponding HCC-adjacent liver tissues and normal liver tissues collected from humans, rats and tree shrews. RESULTS：The mRNA expression of Cdc25a in the HCC tissues of humans, rats and tree shrews was higher than that in normal liver tissues (P<0.05). The mRNA levels of Cdc25a in the HCC tissues of humans and rats were higher than those in the corresponding HCC-adjacent liver tissues (P<0.05). The mRNA expression of Cdc25a in the HCC tissues was significantly correlated with the portal vein tumor thrombus, the extrahepatic metastasis and the clinical stage, but was not correlated with the recurrence of tumor, the diameter of tumor, the number of tumor, the level of serum alpha-fetoprotein and the differentiation of tumor. The protein levels of Cdc25a in the HCC tissues of humans, rats and tree shrews were higher than those in the corresponding HCC-adjacent liver tissues and the normal liver tissues. CONCLUSION：Cdc25a may be a particularly crucial molecule for hepatocarcinogenesis. The cross-species oncogenomics screening may represent a feasible and convenient way for identifying key molecules of human HCC.