Expressions of DAPK3 and c-Myc in endometrial cancer and their relationship with the patients' prognosis / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expressions of DAPK3 and c-Myc and their prognostic value in endometrial carcinoma (EC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expressions of DAPK3 and c-Myc were detected immunohistochemically in 132 surgical specimens. The relationship between DAPK3 and c-Myc protein expressions and the clinicopathological features of the patients was evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immunohistochemical analysis revealed low DAPK3 expression in 60.61% (80/132) and high c-Myc expression in 53.79% (71/132) of the specimens of EC. Both DAPK3 expression and c-Myc expression were significantly correlated with FIGO stage (P=0.034 and 0.015, respectively) and lymph node metastasis (P=0.022 and 0.031, respectively). DAPK3 expression was closely correlated with the histological grade (P=0.027) and depth of myometrial invasion (P=0.011). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that patients with low DAPK3 expressions had a shorter overall survival rate than those with high DAPK3 expressions (P=0.023), while patients with high c-Myc expressions had poorer prognoses than those with low c-Myc expressions (P=0.002). Spearman correlation analysis showed that DAPK3 and c-Myc expressions were negatively correlated (P<0.001, r=?0.310). Multivariate analysis identified a high c-Myc expression as the independent predictor of the prognosis of EC (P=0.007).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>A low expression of DAPK3 and a high expression of c-Myc are associated with aggressive and metastatic behaviors of EC, and their detection may help to predict the prognosis of the EC patients.</p>