Distinct prognostic values of alcohol dehydrogenase mRNA expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) isoenzymes have been reported as a potential diagnostic marker for pancreatic cancer, but their prognostic value in pancreatic cancer remains unclear. The aim of this investigation was to identify the prognostic value of ADH genes in human patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An RNA sequencing dataset and corresponding survival profiles of PAAD were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Survival analysis and gene set enrichment analysis were used to investigate the prediction value and potential mechanism of ADH genes in PAAD prognosis.

RESULTS

Survival analysis of ADH genes suggests that a high expression of (adjusted =0.037, adjusted hazard ratio [HR] =0.627, 95% CI =0.404-0.972) and (adjusted =0.018, adjusted HR =0.588, 95% CI =0.378-0.914) were associated with a significantly decreased risk of death, while a high expression of was associated with a significantly increased risk of death (adjusted =0.043, adjusted HR =1.564, 95% CI =1.013-2.414). Joint effects analysis of three ADH gene prognostic markers suggests that the prognosis difference for any marker combination was more significant than that for any individual marker. The potential mechanism of and in PAAD prognosis was that a high expression of and was involved in the P450 pathway and biological processes, while high expression was involved in transforming growth factor β regulation-related pathways and biological processes, Wnt, the cell cycle, ErbB, and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways.

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that , , and expression may be potential prognostic markers of PAAD and in combination have a strong interaction and better predictive value for PAAD prognosis.