Increased expression of pAKT is associated with radiation resistance in cervical cancer.
Phosphorylated AKT (pAKT) is a major contributor to radioresistance in human cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of pAKT expression and radiation resistance in cervical cancer. A retrospective review was made of the records of 27 women who received primary radiation therapy due to locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) with FIGO stage IIB-IVA. Nine patients regarded as radiation resistant developed local recurrences with a median progression free interval of 9 months. Eighteen patients did not show local recurrences, and were regarded as a radiation-sensitive group. Using pretreatment paraffin-embedded tissues, we evaluated pAKT expression by immunohistochemistry. A significant association was found between the level of pAKT expression and local recurrence. Immunohistochemical staining for pAKT was significantly more frequent in the radiation-resistant than in the radiation-sensitive group (P=0.004). The mean progression-free survival was 86 months for patients with pAKT-negative staining (19 cases) and 44 months for patients with pAKT-positive expression (eight cases) (P=0.008). These results suggest that signalling from phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase/pAKT can lead to radiation resistance, and that evaluation of pAKT may be a prognostic marker for response to radiotherapy in LACC.
Kim
T-J
TJ
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Ilwon-Dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea.
Lee
J-W
JW
Song
S Y
SY
Choi
J-J
JJ
Choi
C H
CH
Kim
B-G
BG
Lee
J-H
JH
Bae
D-S
DS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D051058:Oncogene Protein v-akt / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011836:Radiation Tolerance / Q000235:genetics*; D012008:Recurrence; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy
D051058:Oncogene Protein v-akt