title: Decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) overexpression predicts the prognosis and pN2 in pancreatic head carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study was carried out to examine decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) expression and investigate its clinical and prognostic significance in patients with pancreatic head carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tissue samples were obtained from 50 patients with pancreatic head carcinoma. DcR3 protein expression in tissues and sera was assessed by immunohistochemistry and ELISA. Correlations between DcR3 and clinicopathologic features and prognoses were analyzed statistically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum DcR3 levels were significantly elevated in patients with pancreatic head carcinoma compared with patients with cystadenoma and healthy individuals (P < 0.01 and P < 0.01, respectively). DcR3 overexpression correlated with lymph node metastases and TNM stages (P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively). Median overall survival for the high DcR3 group was 16.3 months, compared to 21.6 months for the low DcR3 group (P < 0.05). In the low DcR3 group, no significant difference was found in the overall survival between patients who underwent standard pancreatoduodenectomy (SPD) and those who had radical pancreatoduodenectomy (RPD) (P > 0.05). In the high DcR3 group, the median overall survival rates were 16.8 months in the RPD group and 13.5 months in the SPD group (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that DcR3 was overexpressed in pancreatic head carcinoma. The patients with high DcR3 levels had higher pN2 stages than those with low DcR3 levels. Detecting serum DcR3 level preoperatively might be an additional approach for evaluating pN2 stage and guiding the range of lymphadenectomy.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Shiduo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Dechun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Songbing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhenxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188 Shizi Street, Suzhou 215006, China. skysuzhou0612@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Xinguo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010179:Pancreas / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D053323:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Member 6b / Q000097:blood*; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053323:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Member 6b; C505911:TNFRSF6B protein, human