Prognostic value of Musashi-1 in gliomas.
The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of the RNA-binding protein Musashi-1 in adult patients with primary gliomas. Musashi-1 has been suggested to be a cancer stem cell-related marker in gliomas, and high levels of Musashi-1 have been associated with high tumor grades and hence poor prognosis. Samples of 241 gliomas diagnosed between 2005 and 2009 were stained with an anti-Musashi-1 antibody using a fluorescent staining protocol followed by automated image acquisition and processing. Musashi-1 area fraction and intensity in cytoplasm and in nuclei were quantified by systematic random sampling in 2 % of the vital tumor area. In WHO grade III tumors high levels of Musashi-1 were associated with poor survival in multivariate analysis (HR 3.39, p = 0.02). We identified a sub-population of glioblastoma (GBM) patients with high levels of Musashi-1 and a superior prognosis (HR 0.65, p = 0.038). In addition patients with high levels of Musashi-1 benefitted most from post-surgical treatment, indicating that Musashi-1 may be a predictive marker in GBMs. In conclusion, our results suggest that high levels of Musashi-1 are associated with poor survival in patients with WHO grade III tumors and that Musashi-1 may be a predictive marker in GBMs, although further validation is needed. We find the combination of immunofluorescence and automated quantitation to be a feasible, robust, and reproducible approach for quantitative biomarker studies.
Department of Oncology, Odense University Hospital, Sdr. Boulevard 29, 5000, Odense, Denmark, rikke.dahlrot@ouh.rsyd.dk.
Rikke H
RH
Dahlrot
Steinbjørn
S
Hansen
Jørn
J
Herrstedt
Henrik D
HD
Schrøder
Jacob
J
Hjelmborg
Bjarne W
BW
Kristensen
D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005910:Glioma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015996:Survival Rate; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D014944:World Health Organization
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C491297:MSI1 protein, human; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins