Clinicopathological significance of CADM4 expression in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast

Decreased Expression of Cell Adhesion Molecule 4 in Gastric Adenocarcinoma and Its Prognostic Implications

Cell adhesion molecule 4 (CADM4) is a novel tumor suppressor candidate. The prognostic implications of CADM4 in gastric cancer have not been conclusively elucidated. Therefore, we evaluated the clinicopathological significance and prognostic value of CADM4 expression in a large series of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical staining for CADM4 was performed on 534 gastric adenocarcinomas. We evaluated the associations between CADM4 expression and the clinicopathological and molecular characteristics of the adenocarcinomas. The prognostic effect of CADM4 expression was evaluated by survival analyses. Low CADM4 expression was significantly associated with young age (p = 0.046), aggressive histological type (p < 0.001), high pT category (p < 0.001), nodal metastasis (p < 0.001), high stage (p = 0.002), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.001), and perineural invasion (p = 0.001). Low CADM4 expression was more frequently observed in tumors without human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) amplification (p = 0.002). Low CADM4 expression was associated with worse overall survival (p = 0.007) and recurrence-free survival (p = 0.005) in the survival analyses. Low CADM4 expression was associated with aggressive clinicopathological features and poor clinical outcomes. CADM4 can act as a tumor suppressor in gastric adenocarcinoma and can be considered a prognostic biomarker.

Expression profile of CADM1 and CADM4 in triple negative breast cancer with primary systemic therapy

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is defined by a lack of ER, PgR, and HER2 expression, and to date there have been no significant advances in treatment by targeted therapies against those molecules. Therefore, primary systemic therapy (PST) followed by surgery is the standard therapy for patients with advanced TNBC. According to gene expression analysis, TNBC has a distinct profile when compared with non-TNBC, suggesting that a unique gene affects the treatment efficacy of PST. Cell adhesion molecule (CADM) genes encode an immunoglobulin superfamily molecule involved in cell-to-cell adhesion in a variety of human epithelial cells. While it has been reported that inactivation of CADM1 and CADM4 serves a pivotal role in the progression of breast cancer, a full analysis has not been completed for TNBC. Previous studies have reported that CADM1 and CADM4 expression is less likely to be decreased in TNBC than in non-TNBC. In the present study, CADM1 and CADM4 expression was evaluated in patients with TNBC who had received PST. The present study revealed that loss or weak expression of CADM1 was frequently observed in non-pathological complete response patients. Furthermore, while the majority of TNBC cases exhibited high CADM1 expression, a small number of cases exhibited low CADM1 expression and low therapeutic response of PST for TNBC. These results suggest that CADM1 has a pivotal role in anti-PST efficacy in patients with TNBC.

Expression of SATB1 and E-cad in tissues of patients with endometrial carcinoma and the relationship with clinicopathological features

The expression of special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 (SATB1) and E-cadherin (E-cad) in tissues of patients with endometrial carcinoma and the relationships with clinicopathological features were investigated. One hundred and four cases of carcinoma tissues and 104 cases of para-carcinoma tissues of patients pathologically diagnosed as endometrial carcinoma in Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University (Jining, China) from August 2015 to August 2016 were selected. The expressions of SATB1 and E-cad in tissues was detected via streptavidin peroxidase biotin (SP) immunohistochemical method, and the relationship with clinicopathological features of patients was analyzed. SATB1 was positively expressed in 71 out of 104 cases of endometrial carcinoma tissues (the expression rate was 68.27%) and in 25 out of 104 cases of para-carcinoma tissues (the expression rate was 24.03%). The expression of SATB1 in endometrial carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in para-carcinoma tissues (P<0.05). E-cad was positively expressed in 60 out of 104 cases of carcinoma tissues (the expression rate was 57.6%) and 95 out of 104 cases of para-carcinoma tissues (the positive expression rate was 91.3%) (P<0.05). The expression of SATB1 and E-cad in endometrial carcinoma tissues was not associated with the menopausal status or age of patients (P>0.05), but correlated with the histological grade of endometrial carcinoma, depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and tumor lymph node metastasis (TNM) staging (P<0.05). In conclusion, SATB1 and E-cad play important roles in the occurrence and development of endometrial carcinoma, which are of great significance to the potential therapeutic target and prognosis estimation of endometrial carcinoma.

Decreased expression of CADM1 and CADM4 are associated with advanced stage breast cancer

Cell adhesion molecule (CADM) genes encode immunoglobulin superfamily molecules, which are involved in cell-cell adhesion in a number of human epithelia. Through the maintenance of epithelia, CADM genes protect against malignant conversion and metastasis. Whilst numerous in vitro studies have investigated the molecular characteristics of CADM1 and CADM4 and in vivo studies have investigated CADM1 and CADM4 expression in a number of tumor types, the roles of CADM1 and CADM4 have yet to be elucidated. Therefore, in the present study, CADM1 and CADM4 expression levels were evaluated using immunohistochemistry staining in 208 patients with breast cancer and compared with clinicopathological factors. CADM1 and CADM4 expression levels were negative in 160 (76.9%) and 166 (79.8%) of the 208 cases, respectively. The lack of expression in these cases was associated with advanced tumor stage, suggesting that inactivation of CADM1 and CADM4 promotes breast cancer development. The prognostic role of CADM1 and CADM4 in breast cancer was also evaluated and the expression of CADM1 and CADM4 were not associated with cancer-specific survival or overall survival rate in the cohort of patients in the present study. Whilst these results suggested that CADM1 and CADM4 possess tumor suppressive roles, further functional experiments are required to address the important mechanisms involving CADM1 and CADM4.

Clinicopathological significance of Necl-4 expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

AIMS

The loss, or decreased expression, of nectin-like molecule 4 (Necl-4; an immunoglobulin-like cell adhesion molecule) is reported to be associated with the development and progression of certain types of cancer. We investigated the clinicopathological significance of Necl-4 expression in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

METHODS

Immunohistochemical analyses of Necl-4 (n=258) and E-cadherin (n=256) expression were performed using tissue microarray blocks of PDAC samples. Necl-4 expression of 38 pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) lesions included in tissue microarray cores was also evaluated. Necl-4 and E-cadherin expression was considered positive if >30% of cells were stained, and negative if ≤30% of cells were stained.

RESULTS

Necl-4 expression was positive in 45.7% (n=118) and negative in 54.3% (n=140) of PDAC cases. Necl-4 staining was positive in 96.7% (n=29) and negative in 3.3% (n=1) of low-grade PanIN cases, and positive in 62.5% (n=5) and negative in 37.5% (n=3) of high-grade PanIN cases. The number of cases with positive Necl-4 expression decreased in the order low-grade PanIN>high-grade PanIN>PDAC (p<0.001). Negative Necl-4 expression was significantly associated with a larger tumour size of >30 mm, perineural invasion, lymphatic involvement, lymph node metastasis (pN1), an advanced TNM (tumour, node, metastases) stage (stage IIB-IV), an advanced histological grade (G2/3), and shorter overall survival. E-cadherin staining was positive in 46.1% (n=118) and negative in 53.9% (n=138) of PDAC cases. Necl-4 expression correlated positively with E-cadherin expression (r=0.405, p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that Necl-4 is associated with carcinogenesis and aggressiveness of PDAC.

Clinicopathological significance of dual-specificity protein phosphatase 4 expression in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast

Purpose

Dual-specificity protein phosphatase 4 (DUSP4), also known as mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase (MKP) 2 is a member of the inducible nuclear MKP group. The role of DUSP4 in cancer development and progression appears to vary with the type of malignancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate DUSP4 expression in a case series of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.

Methods

We constructed tissue microarrays consisting of 16, 14, 47, and 266 cases of normal breast tissue, usual ductal hyperplasia, ductal carcinoma in situ, and invasive ductal carcinoma, respectively. DUSP4 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry.

Results

Cytoplasmic DUSP4 expression was observed. DUSP4 was more frequently expressed in malignant than in benign cases (p=0.024). The mean DUSP4 expression score was significantly higher in malignant tumors than in benign lesions (p=0.019). DUSP4 expression was significantly correlated with a larger tumor size (>2 cm, p=0.015). There was no significant correlation between overall survival or disease-free survival and DUSP4 expression in all 266 patients. We evaluated the impact of DUSP4 expression on the survival of 120 patients with T1-stage tumors. Interestingly, Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed that DUSP4 expression had a significant effect on both overall patient survival (p=0.034, log-rank test) and disease-free survival (p=0.045, log-rank test). In early T-stage breast cancer, DUSP4 expression was associated with a worse prognosis.

Conclusion

DUSP4 is frequently upregulated in breast malignancy, and may play an important role in cancer development and progression. In addition, it may be a marker of adverse prognosis, especially in patients with early T1-stage cancer.

Immunohistochemical expression of dual-specificity protein phosphatase 4 in patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma

The role of dual-specificity protein phosphatase 4 (DUSP4) appears to vary with the type of malignant tumors and is still controversial. The purpose of our study was to clarify the exact role of DUSP4 expression in colorectal adenocarcinoma. We constructed tissue microarrays and investigated DUSP4 expression by immunohistochemistry. DUSP4 was more frequently expressed in adenocarcinomas and lymph node/distant metastases compared to that in normal colorectal tissues and tubular adenomas (P < 0.001). Mean DUSP4 expression score was significantly higher in malignant tumors than in benign lesions (P < 0.001). DUSP4 expression was significantly correlated with older age (P = 0.017), male gender (P = 0.036), larger tumor size (P = 0.014), nonmucinous tumor type (P = 0.023), and higher T stage (P = 0.040). Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed a significant effect of DUSP4 expression on both overall survival and disease-free survival in AJCC stage I (P = 0.008 and P = 0.003, resp., log-rank test) and male gender (P = 0.017 and P = 0.049, resp., log-rank test). DUSP4 protein is frequently upregulated in colorectal adenocarcinoma and may play an important role in carcinogenesis and cancer progression and may be a marker of adverse prognosis.