Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Medical Biotechnology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk and Medical University of Gdańsk, Dębinki 1, 80-211 Gdańsk, Poland.
Anticancer Res. 2013 Dec;33(12):5461-9.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer stem cells (CSCs) are presumed to be key conditions for malignancy. Data concerning their role in endometrial cancer (EC) are scarce. We aimed to investigate the possible link between EMT and CSCs markers in EC samples.
The study encompassed 156 primary tumour samples. Using RT-qPCR, we analyzed the expression of EMT-related genes, SNAIL and SLUG, and the CSCs marker CD133.
SNAIL and SLUG correlated with each other (R=0.33; p=0.00003). All the studied genes were expressed in both normal and malignant endometrial tissue. Decreased SNAIL expression was found to correlate with post-menopausal status (p=0.002). Decreased SLUG expression was associated with shorter overall survival (p=0.01).
SLUG expression could serve as a prognostic factor in EC. No correlation between the expression of EMT and CSCs markers was found, suggesting there to be no association between the EMT and CSC phenotype in endometrial cancer.
背景/目的：上皮-间充质转化（EMT）和癌症干细胞（CSCs）被认为是恶性肿瘤的关键条件。关于它们在子宫内膜癌（EC）中的作用的数据很少。我们旨在研究 EMT 和 CSCs 标志物在 EC 样本中的可能联系。
该研究包括 156 个原发性肿瘤样本。我们使用 RT-qPCR 分析了 EMT 相关基因 SNAIL 和 SLUG 以及 CSCs 标志物 CD133 的表达。
SNAIL 和 SLUG 相互关联（R=0.33；p=0.00003）。所有研究的基因在正常和恶性子宫内膜组织中均有表达。SNAIL 表达降低与绝经后状态相关（p=0.002）。SLUG 表达降低与总生存期缩短相关（p=0.01）。
SLUG 表达可作为 EC 的预后因素。EMT 和 CSCs 标志物的表达之间没有相关性，这表明子宫内膜癌中 EMT 和 CSC 表型之间没有关联。
