Reduced Axin Protein Expression Is Associated with a Poor Prognosis in Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Esophagus (original) (raw)

Abstract

Aims

Our study investigates the significance of the expression of Wnt pathway proteins including β-catenin, Axin, β-transducin-repeat-containing protein (β-TrCP), and adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (ESCC).

Methods

Immunohistochemical analysis was performed on paraffin-embedded tissue specimens from 128 resected ESCC tumors to detect the expression of β-catenin, Axin, β-TrCP, and APC. Correlation between immunoexpression, clinicopathological parameters, and patient survival was analyzed.

Results

Increased β-catenin expression was noted in 22 (18.2%) of 121 tumor specimens. Reduced expression of Axin, β-TrCP, and APC was observed in 57 (46.0%) of 124, 29 (24.4%) of 119, and 54 (48.2%) of 119 specimens, respectively. No correlation was found among these protein expressions. Axin protein expression was inversely correlated with tumor invasion depth (P = 0.033). Reduced Axin protein expression, lymph node involvement, and distant metastasis were significant negative predictors for overall survival and disease-free survival on univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, reduced Axin expression remained a significant prognostic factor for patients with ESCC (P = 0.005).

Conclusions

Reduced Axin expression was observed in 46% of ESCC tumor specimens and was associated with poor prognosis in patients with ESCC. Further study is mandatory to elucidate the underlying mechanism responsible for loss of Axin expression and the role of Axin in ESCC tumorigenesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    Anna Fen-Yau Li MD, PhD
  2. Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    Po-Kuei Hsu MD, I-Chun Hung BS, Min-Hsiung Huang MD & Han-Shui Hsu MD, PhD
  3. Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    Ching Tzao MD
  4. Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
    Yi-Ching Wang PhD
  5. Institute of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
    Han-Shui Hsu MD, PhD

Authors

  1. Anna Fen-Yau Li MD, PhD
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  2. Po-Kuei Hsu MD
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  3. Ching Tzao MD
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  4. Yi-Ching Wang PhD
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  5. I-Chun Hung BS
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  6. Min-Hsiung Huang MD
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  7. Han-Shui Hsu MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence toHan-Shui Hsu MD, PhD.

Additional information

Anna Fen-Yau Li, Po-Kuei Hsu, and Ching Tzao contributed equally to this article.

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Li, A.FY., Hsu, PK., Tzao, C. et al. Reduced Axin Protein Expression Is Associated with a Poor Prognosis in Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Esophagus.Ann Surg Oncol 16, 2486–2493 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-009-0593-3

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