Putative stemness markers octamer-binding transcription factor 4, sex-determining region Y-box 2, and NANOG in non-small cell lung carcinoma: A clinicopathological association

Background: The promising improvement in the clinical outcome of lung cancer can be possibly achieved by identification of the molecular events that underlie its pathogenesis. Cancer stem cell (CSC) being one of the subsets of tumor majorly participates in drug resistance and treatment failure because of the moderate cell cycle, lower proliferation, and increased expression of DNA repair and anti-apoptosis genes. Although many putative CSC markers exist, a precise characterization for non-small cell lung cancer is of utmost importance due to increased mortality rate and lack of targeted therapies. Hence, the article focuses on the expression of stemness-associated markers, namely octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4), NANOG, and sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Methods: The expression of OCT4, NANOG, and SOX2 were evaluated in 32 histopathologically confirmed NSCLC tissues using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The obtained expression was correlated with clinical and pathological manifestations using the statistical test such as Student's t-test and Pearson correlation in varied statistical software. Results: Results showed a significantly higher expression of OCT4 and NANOG compared to SOX2 in the tumor tissues. When the expression of these markers was correlated with the clinical parameters, higher expression was seen in males, patients with age above 60 years, and in adenocarcinoma subtype. In correlation with the habit, higher expression of OCT4 and SOX2 was observed in habituated patients. Expression of NANOG and OCT4 was higher even in patients with poor differentiation. Conclusion: The expression and prognostic significance of CSC markers obviously vary depending on histological NSCLC subtype. Importantly, our findings suggest that OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG network together may be promising for ongoing targeted therapies in specific NSCLC subgroups

Expressions of octamer-binding transcription factor 4 and phosphorylated-protein kinase B in colorectal cancer and their clinical significances / 肿瘤研究与临床

Objective To investigate the expressions of octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4) and phosphorylated-protein kinase B (p-Akt) proteins in colorectal cancer and their clinical significances, in order to explore the roles of Oct4 and p-Akt in the staging and grading of colorectal cancer. Methods Immunohistochemical technique was used to examine the expression of Oct4 and p-Akt proteins in 78 cases of colorectal cancer in Wuxi Second Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Wuxi First People's Hospital from January 2011 to December 2016. Relationship between expressions of Oct4 and p-Akt proteins and clinicopathological parameters were analyzed. Results The positive rate of Oct4 in tumors was 74.36 % (58/78), which was obviously higher than that in normal tissues [35.90 % (20/78), χ2= 23.32, P < 0.01]; and the positive rate of p-Akt in tumors was 67.95 % (53/78), which was obviously higher than that in normal tissues[28.21 %(25/78),χ2=24.68,P <0.01].The double positive and negative expression rate of these two proteins accounted for 80.8 %(63/78), with a linear positive correlation (r= 0.455, P < 0.000 1). In 78 cases of colorectal cancer, the expression of Oct4 protein was correlated with histological grade, lymph node metastasis, and Duke staging (all P < 0.05), and the expression of p-Akt protein was correlated with histological grade and lymph node metastasis (both P < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the expression of Oct4 protein was related to histological grade and Duke staging(both P<0.05),and the expression of p-Akt protein was only related to lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). Conclusion The combined detection of Oct4 protein and p-Akt protein has reliable and important clinical significance for judging the histological grade,lymph node metastasis and Duke staging of colorectal cancer.

Research progress of octamer-binding transcription factor 4 and sal-like gene 4 in germ cell tumors / 肿瘤研究与临床

Tumor marker research is a hot field of oncology.Previous studies of tumor markers such as placental alkaline phosphatase,alpha-fetoprotein,c-kit and CD30 and so on,lack sufficient sensitivity and specificity for the early diagnosis of germ cell tumor.Recent research demonstrated that octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4),sal-like gene 4 (SALL4) can be used as new germ cell tumor markers.This paper reviewed the research progress on the OCT4 and SALL4 in recent years,to provide the reference about the early diagnosis,tumor typing,condition estimation,prognosis and targeted therapy of germ cell tumors.