Okamoto E, Osaki M, Kase S, Adachi H, Kaibara N, Ito H
First Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, 86 Nishi-cho, Yonago, Tottori 683-8503, Japan.
Pathol Int. 2001 Mar;51(3):158-64. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1827.2001.01184.x.
Thymidine phosphorylase (dThdPase)/platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor, is expressed at higher levels in tumor tissues compared to the adjacent normal tissues in a variety of human carcinomas. The higher expression is associated with an increase of intratumoral microvessel density (IMVD) and an unfavorable patient prognosis. We examined the role of dThdPase in apoptosis, IMVD, P53 expression and patient prognosis of human stages II and III esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). dThdPase expression was noted in 52 of the 78 esophageal SCC (66.7%), regardless of tumor stages and histologic grades. Mean IMVD was 117.9 +/- 32.6 in the dThdPase-positive cases and 103.1 +/- 21.5 in the dThdPase-negative cases, the value being significantly higher in the former (P < 0.05). Similarly, median (range) apoptotic index (AI: percentage of apoptotic cells) was significantly lower in the dThdPase-positive SCC, 1.8 (0.4-6.5), than in the dThdPase-negative SCC, 3.7 (0.6-7.0) (P < 0.01). AI and IMVD showed a significant inverse correlation (r = - 0.31, P = 0.005). There was also no significant difference in the frequency of P53 expression between the dThdPase-positive SCC and the negative SCC. No statistical difference was noted regarding the postoperative survival rate between the dThdPase-positive and the negative SCC. Although dThdPase expression was not associated with patient prognosis, the expression provided an advantage for tumor growth of human esophageal SCC, not only by increasing the intratumoral microvessels, but also attenuation of apoptosis, which might occur via a p53 gene-independent pathway.
胸苷磷酸化酶（dThdPase）/血小板衍生内皮细胞生长因子，在多种人类癌症中，与相邻正常组织相比，其在肿瘤组织中的表达水平更高。较高的表达与肿瘤内微血管密度（IMVD）增加以及患者预后不良相关。我们研究了dThdPase在人II期和III期食管鳞状细胞癌（SCC）的细胞凋亡、IMVD、P53表达及患者预后中的作用。在78例食管SCC中的52例（66.7%）检测到dThdPase表达，与肿瘤分期和组织学分级无关。dThdPase阳性病例的平均IMVD为117.9±32.6，dThdPase阴性病例为103.1±21.5，前者的值显著更高（P<0.05）。同样，dThdPase阳性SCC的中位（范围）凋亡指数（AI：凋亡细胞百分比）显著低于dThdPase阴性SCC，分别为1.8（0.4 - 6.5）和3.7（0.6 - 7.0）（P<0.01）。AI与IMVD呈显著负相关（r = - 0.31，P = 0.005）。dThdPase阳性SCC和阴性SCC之间P53表达频率也无显著差异。dThdPase阳性和阴性SCC术后生存率无统计学差异。尽管dThdPase表达与患者预后无关，但该表达不仅通过增加肿瘤内微血管，还通过凋亡减弱为人食管SCC的肿瘤生长提供了优势，这可能通过p53基因非依赖途径发生。
