title: Expression of UDP-N-acetyl-alpha-D-galactosamine-polypeptide galNAc N-acetylgalactosaminyl transferase-3 in relation to differentiation and prognosis in patients with colorectal carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tumor development usually is accompanied by alterations of O-glycosylation. Initial glycosylation of mucin-type, O-linked proteins is catalyzed by one of the UDP-GalNAc-polypeptide N-acetyl-galactosaminyl transferases, such as GalNAc-T3, which is expressed in adenocarcinoma cells. The authors investigated whether such expression influenced tumor differentiation or prognosis in patients with colorectal carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  The expression of GalNAc-T3 was evaluated immunohistochemically in 106 paraffin embedded samples from surgically resected colorectal carcinomas and was related to patient and tumor characteristics. Western blot analysis was performed on seven samples of frozen tissue.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Strong tumor expression of GalNAc-T3 predicted 5-year survival in patients with colorectal carcinoma (67.2% vs. 43.6% for weak expression; P = 0.017). GalNAc-T3 expression was not associated with age, gender, tumor size, tumor location, or disease stage but was related to histologic differentiation (P = 0.049) and depth of invasion (P = 0.031). Univariate analysis showed that strong GalNAc-T3 expression significantly enhanced the likelihood of survival. Multivariate Cox survival analysis identified enzyme expression as an independent prognostic factor that was second only to TNM stage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GalNAc-T3 expression is a novel and useful indicator of tumor differentiation, disease aggressiveness, and prognosis in patients with colorectal carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery I, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Medicine, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishiku, Kitakyushu 807-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibao
authors.forename: Hiroto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nomoto
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kitazato
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Kimitoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kohno
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000556:secondary; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000201:enzymology; D017350:N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D000097763:Polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase
chemical_list: D017350:N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferases; D000097763:Polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase