title: Clinicopathologic correlation of autophagy-related Beclin-1 expression in gallbladder cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Autophagy plays critical roles in both cell survival and cell death. Beclin-1, a key modulator of autophagy function, is considered a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor. The role of Beclin-1 expression in cancer is still controversial. Some studies favor the idea that autophagy suppresses tumor development, whereas other researchers suggest that autophagy enhances tumorigenesis. The expression and function of Beclin-1 in gallbladder cancer (GBCA) remain largely unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  Methodology: We performed immunohistochemical staining for Beclin-1 in 119 GBCA cases, and investigated whether Beclin-1 expression correlated with clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Beclin-1 was expressed in the cytoplasm of cancer cells with occasional nuclear staining in 53 (44.5%) of the 119 cases of GBCA with no expression in adjacent normal epithelial cells. Increased expression of Beclin-1 was significantly associated with longer survival rate of patients with GBCA in univariate (p=0.006) and multivariate analyses (p=0.005). There is no association between Beclin-1 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Beclin-1 was highly expressed in GBCA, and positive expression in cancer cells was significantly related with favorable prognosis in GBCA patients. Our results suggest that the expression of Beclin-1 may be an independent predictive marker of favorable prognosis in GBCA.
authors.forename: Jae-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hyun-Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyuck
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Nam Chul
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyu Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.forename: Won Seo
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Youn Wha
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D000071186:Beclin-1; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C491997:BECN1 protein, human; D000071186:Beclin-1; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D008565:Membrane Proteins