Overexpressed ostepontin-c as a potential biomarker for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
The metastasis gene osteopontin (OPN) is subject to alternative splicing, which yields three messages, osteopontin-a, osteopontin-b and osteopontin-c. Osteopontin-c is selectively expressed in invasive, but not in noninvasive tumors. In the present study, we examined the expression of OPN-c in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs) and assessed its value as a diagnostic biomarker.


METHODS
OPN-c expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in 63 ESCC samples and correlated with clinicopathologic factors. Expression was also examined in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 120 ESCC patients and 30 healthy subjects. The role of OPN-c mRNA as a tumor marker was investigated by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis.


RESULTS
Immunohistochemistry showed that OPN-c was expressed in 30 of 63 cancer lesions (48%)and significantly associated with pathological T stage (P=0.038) and overall stage (P=0.023). Real time PCR showed that OPN-c mRNA was expressed at higher levels in the PBMCs of ESCC patients than in those of healthy subjects (P<0.0001) with a sensitivity as an ESCC biomarker of 86.7%.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that expression of OPN-c is significantly elevated in ESCCs and this upregulation could be a potential diagnostic marker.
Department of Clinical Lab, Nanjing Medical University Cancer Hospital and Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Nanjing, China E-mail : yanfeng1895@163.com, yanfeng2007@sohu.com.
Mei-Xiang
MX
Zhang
Yi-Jun
YJ
Xu
Ming-Chen
MC
Zhu
Feng
F
Yan
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D053495:Osteopontin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012372:ROC Curve; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D053495:Osteopontin