ABSTRACT
AIM: To evaluate the clinical significance of farnesoid X receptor (FXR) in thyroid neoplasia. PATIENTS & METHODS: FXR expression was assessed immunohistochemically on 88 thyroid neoplastic tissues (benign = 44, malignant = 44). RESULTS: Enhanced FXR was more frequently observed in papillary carcinomas compared with hyperplastic nodules (p = 0.0489). In malignant lesions, elevated FXR was associated with capsular (p = 0.0004) and vascular invasion (p = 0.0056) and increased follicular cells' proliferative rate (p < 0.0001). Elevated FXR expression was also associated with larger tumor size (p = 0.0086), presence of lymph node metastases (p = 0.0239) and lymphatic invasion (p = 0.0086) and increased recurrence rate risk (p = 0.0239). CONCLUSION: FXR may be associated with tumor aggressiveness that affects patients' survival in thyroid neoplasia.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers, Tumor , Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear/metabolism , Thyroid Neoplasms/metabolism , Adult , Aged , Female , Gene Expression , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplasm Metastasis , Neoplasm Staging , Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear/genetics , Thyroid Neoplasms/genetics , Thyroid Neoplasms/mortality , Thyroid Neoplasms/pathology , Tumor BurdenABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIM: Lung cancer is the first cause of cancer related deaths in both males and females. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a reversible process by which epithelial cells transform to mesenchymal stem cells by losing their cell polarity and cell-to-cell adhesion, gaining migratory and invasive properties. High levels of E-cadherin are expressed in epithelial cells, whereas mesenchymal cells express high levels of N-cadherin, fibronectin and vimentin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between E-cadherin and vimentin expression and their clinical significance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The immunohistochemical expression of E-cadherin, vimentin and Ki-67 was performed on tissue microarrays from NSCLC specimens obtained from 112 newly- diagnosed cases and were studied using classical pathological evaluation. Associations between E-cadherin, vimentin and Ki-67 expression, clinicopathological variables and survival were analyzed. In all cases, a value of p≤0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Low E-cadherin expression was significantly correlated with tumor necrosis (p=0.019). Moreover, there was a trend for correlation between high E-cadherin expression and better overall survival (hazard ratio=1.02, and 95% confidence interval=0.45-1.87, p=0.091). There was also a significant negative correlation between vimentin expression and overall survival (hazard ratio=1.13, and 95% confidence interval=0.78-1.65, p=0.026). Additionally, there was a significant negative correlation between vimentin expression and grade I tumors (p=0.031). Finally, a positive correlation trend between vimentin expression and Ki-67 was found (p=0.073). CONCLUSION: High E-cadherin and low vimentin expression correlate with better prognosis and overall survival.
Subject(s)
Adenocarcinoma/pathology , Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism , Carcinoma, Large Cell/pathology , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/pathology , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology , Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition , Lung Neoplasms/pathology , Adenocarcinoma/metabolism , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Antigens, CD , Cadherins/metabolism , Carcinoma, Large Cell/metabolism , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/metabolism , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/metabolism , Female , Fibronectins/metabolism , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Immunoenzyme Techniques , Lung Neoplasms/metabolism , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplasm Invasiveness , Neoplasm Staging , Prognosis , Survival Rate , Tissue Array Analysis , Vimentin/metabolismABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Phosphorylated epidermal growth factor receptor (pEGFR) activates several signaling pathways, resulting in tumor-promoting cellular activities, and has been implicated in malignant transformation and disease progression. The present study evaluated the clinical significance of pEGFR protein expression in mobile tongue squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present cohort study included 48 patients with mobile tongue SCC. We evaluated whether pEGFR immunohistochemical protein expression is associated with clinical variables and patient outcome. RESULTS: Of the 48 patients included in the present cohort study, 25 were men and 23 were women. The median patient age was 60 years (interquartile range 53 to 72). pEGFR protein expression was significantly increased in well-differentiated tumors compared with poorly differentiated tumors (P = .001). Elevated pEGFR protein expression was significantly more frequently observed in mobile tongue SCC cases with a well-defined tumor shape and an earlier disease stage (P = .010 and P = .019, respectively). Patients with mobile tongue SCC presenting with elevated pEGFR expression had longer overall and disease-free survival times compared with those with low pEGFR expression (P = .015 and P = .006, respectively; log-rank test). On multivariate analysis, pEGFR expression proved to be an independent prognostic factor of both overall and disease-free survival (P = .008 and P = .044, respectively; Cox regression analysis). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study support evidence that the pEGFR signaling pathway might be implicated in the malignant transformation of mobile tongue SCC. Additional studies are recommended to validate whether pEGFR could be used as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in mobile tongue SCC.
