Department of Radiation Oncology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, 107 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, People's Republic of China,
Clin Transl Oncol. 2014 May;16(5):488-94. doi: 10.1007/s12094-013-1108-z. Epub 2013 Sep 17.
This study aims to investigate whether nuclear β-catenin overexpression at invasive front in rectal carcinoma is associated with lymph node metastasis and prognosis.
Immunohistochemistry was adopted to detect the expression of β-catenin in rectal carcinoma and lymph node metastatic lesions. Spearman's rank correlation analysis and Tukey's test were used to evaluate the association between nuclear β-catenin expression at invasive front in rectal carcinoma and lymph node metastasis. Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox regression model were used to evaluate the prognostic value of nuclear β-catenin overexpression at invasive front in rectal carcinoma for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).
Overexpression of nuclear β-catenin at the invasive front in rectal carcinoma in stage III-N2 was significantly higher than that in stage III-N1 (73.4 vs. 40.4 %, P < 0.001). Nuclear β-catenin expression at the invasive front in rectal carcinoma was associated with the expression of nuclear β-catenin in corresponding lymph node metastatic lesions (r = 0.297, P < 0.001). Overexpression of nuclear β-catenin at the invasive front in rectal carcinoma was correlated with the number of metastatic lymph nodes (P < 0.001). Patients with nuclear β-catenin overexpression at the invasive front in rectal carcinoma had poor DFS (P = 0.002) and OS (P = 0.003). Moreover, overexpression of nuclear β-catenin at the invasive front was an independent prognosticator for unfavorable DFS and OS (P = 0.002 and 0.001).
Our findings suggest that overexpression of nuclear β-catenin at the invasive front in rectal carcinoma may be a useful marker to evaluate lymph node metastasis, as well as a promising predictor of poor prognosis.
本研究旨在探讨直肠癌浸润前沿的核β-连环蛋白（β-catenin）过表达是否与淋巴结转移和预后相关。
采用免疫组织化学方法检测直肠癌及淋巴结转移灶中β-catenin 的表达。采用 Spearman 秩相关分析和 Tukey 检验评估直肠癌浸润前沿核β-catenin 表达与淋巴结转移的关系。采用 Kaplan-Meier 法和多因素 Cox 回归模型评估直肠癌浸润前沿核β-catenin 过表达对无病生存（DFS）和总生存（OS）的预后价值。
Ⅲ期 N2 组直肠癌浸润前沿核β-catenin 过表达率明显高于Ⅲ期 N1 组（73.4%比 40.4%，P<0.001）。直肠癌浸润前沿核β-catenin 表达与相应淋巴结转移灶核β-catenin 表达相关（r=0.297，P<0.001）。直肠癌浸润前沿核β-catenin 过表达与转移淋巴结数目相关（P<0.001）。直肠癌浸润前沿核β-catenin 过表达患者的 DFS（P=0.002）和 OS（P=0.003）较差。此外，直肠癌浸润前沿核β-catenin 过表达是 DFS（P=0.002）和 OS（P=0.001）不良的独立预后因素。
本研究结果表明，直肠癌浸润前沿核β-catenin 过表达可能是评估淋巴结转移的有用标志物，也是预后不良的有前途的预测指标。
