Clinical significance of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-associated markers in malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Epithelioid tumors with aggressive behavior have been reported; however, the epithelioid type of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) has a less aggressive behavior. Few studies have evaluated the prognostic value of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in MPM. We hypothesized that mesenchymal characteristics might predominate in the tumors. Tumor specimens were collected from 33 consecutive patients. We analyzed the EMT expression levels in tumor samples by an immunohistochemical analysis. Positive expression of E-cadherin, γ-catenin, vimentin, fibronectin, Twist and YB-1 was observed in 25, 14, 21, 1, 19 and 18 patients, respectively. No significant association between these markers and the clinicopathological characteristics was found. γ-Catenin demonstrated a trend towards decreased expression in sarcomatoid tumors compared to epithelioid tumors. On the other hand, a trend was noted towards higher expression of vimentin, Twist and YB-1 in sarcomatoid tumors. The survival curves demonstrated that the patients with negative γ-catenin and positive Twist staining had a tendency to have a worse prognosis. Although the individual proteins might not significantly affect the progression of MPM, the combination of γ-catenin and Twist staining can predict the prognosis of patients with MPM.
Second Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
Takashi
T
Iwanami
Hidetaka
H
Uramoto
Makoto
M
Nakagawa
Hidehiko
H
Shimokawa
Sohsuke
S
Yamada
Kimitoshi
K
Kohno
Fumihiro
F
Tanaka
D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005260:Female; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000086002:Mesothelioma, Malignant; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism; D051840:Y-Box-Binding Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D051185:gamma Catenin / Q000378:metabolism*
D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C513384:CDH1 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; D005353:Fibronectins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C103173:TWIST1 protein, human; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; D014746:Vimentin; D051840:Y-Box-Binding Protein 1; C070856:YBX1 protein, human; D051185:gamma Catenin