title: Increased expression of αTubulin is associated with poor prognosis in patients with pancreatic cancer after surgical resection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  αTubulin, the essential orchestrator of cytoskeletal protein polymers, critical for cell growth and division, motility, signaling development and maintenance of cell shape, plays vital roles in the oncogenesis and progression of various types of cancer, but its role in prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate its prognostic value in patients with pancreatic cancer after surgical resection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  αTubulin expression in pancreatic cancer was significantly associated with N classification (p = 0.013) and TNM stage (p = 0.025). Increased expression of αTubulin in tumoral tissue was associated with decreased overall survival rate (p = 0.002). Multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that αTubulin expression was an independent prognostic indicator for pancreatic cancer except for T and N classification (p = 0.002). Using multivariate analysis, αTubulin expression, CA19-9, and N classification were selected to generate the nomogram to predict the 1-year and 3-year overall survival. The c-index of this model was 0.692. The calibration curve for probability of survival showed good agreement between prediction by nomogram and actual observation.
  
  
  METHODS
  αTubulin expression was evaluated by tissue microarrays from 124 pancreatic cancer patients and statistically assessed for correlations with the clinical profiles and the prognosis of the patients with pancreatic cancer. The prognostic nomogram was designed to predict 1-year and 3-year overall survival probability.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  αTubulin expression might be an independent prognostic factor for pancreatic cancer after surgical resection and could potentially be a high-priority therapeutic target. Incorporating αTubulin expression into CA19-9 and N classification can provide a good prognostic model.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Chao
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Dan-Song
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Da-Yong
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Hui
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Chuan
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010180:Pancreatectomy; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014404:Tubulin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D014404:Tubulin
keywords: nomogram; overall survival; pancreatic cancer; prognostic biomarker; αTubulin