The preserved expression of neuropilin (NRP) 1 contributes to a better prognosis in colon cancer.
Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) plays an essential role in tumor progression through stromal neovascularization in malignant solid tumors. Neuropilin (NRP) is considered to be the specific receptor for limited types of VEGF-A isoform, VEGF165. The clinicopathological implications of NRP are not well understood in colon cancer, while almost all colon cancers overexpressed VEGF-A. We examined the expression levels of NRP1 and NRP2 genes in 54 colon cancer cases and paired extraneoplastic tissue with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The gene expression levels of NRP1 in the tumor (0.431+/-0.583) were significantly decreased compared to those in the extraneoplastic tissue (0.754+/-0.799) (paired t-test, p=0.0208). On the other hand, the gene expression levels of NRP2 in the tumor (0.763+/-0.791) were not decreased compared to those in the extraneoplastic tissue (0.508+/-0.386) (paired t-test, p=0.0511). Twenty cases, with preserved expression of the NRP1 gene in the tumor, showed a better prognosis as compared to the 34 cases with decreased NRP1 expression (p=0.0258, log-rank test). No significant relationship was noted between NRP2 gene expression and prognosis. The results suggested that preserved NRP1 expression provides colon cancer patients with a better prognosis.
Kamiya
Takashi
T
Department of Pathology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Bohseidai, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-1193, Japan.
Kawakami
Tsutomu
T
Abe
Yoshiyuki
Y
Nishi
Masatake
M
Onoda
Noboru
N
Miyazaki
Noriyuki
N
Oida
Yasuhisa
Y
Yamazaki
Hitoshi
H
Ueyama
Yoshito
Y
Nakamura
Masato
M
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D039942:Neuropilin-1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D039943:Neuropilin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011379:Prognosis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016019:Survival Analysis; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000096:biosynthesis
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D039943:Neuropilin-2; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D039942:Neuropilin-1