Department of Pathology, the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, 410011, Hunan, China.
Hum Pathol. 2013 Jul;44(7):1357-64. doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2012.10.025. Epub 2013 Jan 31.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma has a high incidence in southern China. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a major role in cancer development and progression. Our current study aims to determine the clinical significance of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway components such as β-catenin, cyclooxygenase 2, cyclin D1, c-Myc, and E-cadherin in 148 nasopharyngeal carcinomas by immunohistochemistry. We found that nasopharyngeal carcinoma stage T3+T4 had significantly higher expression of β-catenin, cyclooxygenase 2, cyclin D1, and c-Myc and lower expression of E-cadherin than nasopharyngeal carcinoma stage T1+T2 (P < .001, P < .05, respectively).There was significantly higher expression of β-catenin (P = .001) and cyclooxygenase 2 (P = .003) and lower expression of E-cadherin (P = .001) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma with lymph node metastasis than in nasopharyngeal carcinoma without lymph node metastasis. The expression of β-catenin in nasopharyngeal carcinoma was positively correlated with cyclooxygenase 2 (r = 0.458, P < .0001), cyclin D1 (r = 0.700, P < .0001), and c-Myc expression (r = 0.144, P = .006) but negatively correlated with E-cadherin expression (r = -0.601, P < .0001), respectively. The univariate analysis confirmed that overexpression of β-catenin and cyclooxygenase 2 and decreased expression of E-cadherin were significantly correlated with disease-free survival (P < .01, P < .05, respectively). Overexpression of β-catenin and cyclooxygenase 2 and reduced expression of E-cadherin significantly correlated with a poor prognosis (P = .005, P = .044, P = .019, respectively) by Kaplan-Meier survival curves and the log-rank test. Multivariate analysis indicated that high expression of β-catenin and decreased expression of E-cadherin were independent prognostic factors (P = .002, P = .011, respectively) regardless of TNM stage and lymph node status. In conclusion, the aberrant high expression of β-catenin and decreased expression of E-cadherin is associated with poor prognosis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
鼻咽癌在中国南方地区的发病率较高。Wnt/β-catenin 信号通路在癌症的发展和进展中起着重要作用。我们目前的研究旨在通过免疫组织化学方法确定 Wnt/β-catenin 通路成分（如β-catenin、环氧化酶 2、细胞周期蛋白 D1、c-Myc 和 E-cadherin）在 148 例鼻咽癌中的临床意义。我们发现，鼻咽癌 T3+T4 期的β-catenin、环氧化酶 2、细胞周期蛋白 D1 和 c-Myc 表达明显高于 T1+T2 期（P<0.001，P<0.05），E-cadherin 表达明显低于 T1+T2 期（P<0.001）。有淋巴结转移的鼻咽癌中β-catenin（P=0.001）和环氧化酶 2（P=0.003）的表达明显高于无淋巴结转移的鼻咽癌，E-cadherin 的表达明显低于无淋巴结转移的鼻咽癌（P=0.001）。鼻咽癌中β-catenin 的表达与环氧化酶 2（r=0.458，P<0.0001）、细胞周期蛋白 D1（r=0.700，P<0.0001）和 c-Myc 表达（r=0.144，P=0.006）呈正相关，与 E-cadherin 表达呈负相关（r=-0.601，P<0.0001）。单因素分析证实，β-catenin 和环氧化酶 2 的过度表达以及 E-cadherin 的表达降低与无病生存期显著相关（P<0.01，P<0.05）。β-catenin 和环氧化酶 2 的过度表达以及 E-cadherin 的表达降低通过 Kaplan-Meier 生存曲线和对数秩检验与不良预后显著相关（P=0.005，P=0.044，P=0.019）。多因素分析表明，β-catenin 高表达和 E-cadherin 低表达是独立的预后因素（P=0.002，P=0.011），与 TNM 分期和淋巴结状态无关。总之，β-catenin 的异常高表达和 E-cadherin 的表达降低与鼻咽癌的不良预后有关。
