title: Increased expression of valosin-containing protein (p97) is associated with lymph node metastasis and prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Valosin-containing protein (VCP, also known as p97) exhibits antiapoptotic function and metastasis by activation of nuclear factor kappa-B signaling pathway. Our previous study showed that VCP expression level correlated with prognosis of hepatocellular and gastric carcinoma. In the present study, association of VCP expression with lymph node metastasis and prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) was examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  VCP expression in 83 patients (46 males and 37 females) of ages ranging from 43 to 80 (median, 66) years who had undergone curative surgery for primary PDAC was analyzed by immunohistochemistry, in which staining intensity in tumor cells was categorized as weaker or equal to (low expression) or stronger (high expression) than that in noncancerous ductal tissue.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-two tumors (38.6%) and 51 tumors (61.4%) were classified as low-VCP-expressing and high-VCP-expressing tumors, respectively. VCP expression correlated significantly with lymph node metastasis (P <.01) but not with various clinicopathologic factors, including age, gender, and histologic differentiation. Multivariate analysis revealed VCP expression as an independent prognosticator for both disease-free and overall survival, along with histologic differentiation, T stage of pathologic tumor-node-metastasis (pTNM) classification, and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, VCP expression was a prognosticator for disease-free and overall survival in each relatively early stage (I or II) and advanced stage (III) group of pTNM classification.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate the potential usefulness of VCP expression as a marker of metastasis and overall prognosis of PDAC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Clinical Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita.
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hoshida
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagano
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dono
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Umeshita
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakon
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohigashi
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamori
authors.forename: Morito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monden
authors.forename: Katsuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aozasa
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D015996:Survival Rate; D000074405:Valosin Containing Protein
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; C000614178:VCP protein, human; D000074405:Valosin Containing Protein