Aberrant expression of mammalian target of rapamycin in stage ⅢB colon cancer and its significance / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the aberrant expressions of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and its activation form,pmTOR,in stage IIIB human colon cancer,and analyze the association of mTOR and pmTOR with clinicopathologic characteristics and patients' prognosis. Methods A total of 104 patients with stage IIIB (T 3-4 N1M0) colon cancer with available follow-up data were enrolled. The specimens of colon cancer and clinical data were acquired from these subjects. The expressions of mTOR and pmTOR in tumor tissues and matched normal tissues were detected with immunohistochemistry. The relationship and its significance between the expressions of mTOR and pmTOR and some clinicopathological features,such as gender,age,location of primary tumor,pathological stage and TNM stage,were analyzed. Results The mTOR and pmTOR were found to be expressed in cell membrane and cytoplasm of tumor tissues. Out of the total 104 specimens,positive rate of mTOR and pmTOR accounted for 75.9% (79/104) and 76.9% (80/104),respectively. No significant correlation was noted between the expressions of mTOR and pmTOR and the clinicopathological features by partial correlation analysis. Both univariate analysis and multivariate analysis showed that the expressions of mTOR and pmTOR threw no significant influence on the 5-year overall survival of patients. Nevertheless,subgroup analysis suggested that a high expression of pmTOR along tumor border was likely to contribute to higher risk of death in patients. Conclusion Aberrant expressions of mTOR and pmTOR are noted in patients with locally advanced colon cancer. High expression of pmTOR along the border of tumor tissue may suggest the possibility of invasion and metastasis.