Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Gynecologic Oncology Unit, IRCCS - Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Via Elio chianesi, 53 -, 00144, Rome, Italy.
Present address: Department of Women and Children Health, Gynecologic Oncology Unit, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli - IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italy.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jul 6;37(1):139. doi: 10.1186/s13046-018-0816-1.
Patients with endometrial cancer (EC) and presumably with good prognosis may develop a recurrence indicating that the classification of this tumor is still not definitive and that new markers are needed to identify a subgroup at risk of relapse. The cell adhesion molecule L1CAM is highly expressed in several human carcinomas and has recently been described as a new marker for endometrial and ovarian carcinomas. The aim of this study was to determine the relevance of L1CAM in recurrent EC.
In this work we have analyzed, by immunohistochemical and RT-qPCR analysis, the expression of L1CAM in a cohort of 113 endometrial cancers at different stages, which 50% have relapsed. As a predictor of good outcome, the tumors were also analyzed for the expression of miR-34a, a post-transcriptional regulator of L1CAM.
Among metastatic EC, the highest levels (60%) and the median level (24%) of L1CAM in tumors correlate with the progression, suggesting that the expression of this molecule is linked to the tumor component most involved in metastatic processes. We also found an inverse correlation between miR-34a and L1CAM protein expression, suggesting that miR-34a is a positive prognostic marker of EC.
Our results demonstrate the expression of L1CAM and miR-34a in EC as prognostic factors that identify subgroup of patients at high risk of recurrence suggesting for them more aggressive schedules of treatment.
患有子宫内膜癌（EC）且预后良好的患者可能会出现复发，这表明这种肿瘤的分类仍然不明确，需要新的标志物来识别有复发风险的亚组。细胞黏附分子 L1CAM 在多种人类癌中高度表达，最近被描述为子宫内膜癌和卵巢癌的新标志物。本研究旨在确定 L1CAM 在复发性 EC 中的相关性。
在这项工作中，我们通过免疫组织化学和 RT-qPCR 分析，分析了 113 例不同阶段的子宫内膜癌（其中 50%发生了复发）中 L1CAM 的表达。miR-34a 是 L1CAM 的转录后调控因子，作为预后良好的预测因子，我们还分析了肿瘤中 miR-34a 的表达。
在转移性 EC 中，肿瘤中 L1CAM 的最高水平（60%）和中位数水平（24%）与进展相关，这表明这种分子的表达与最参与转移过程的肿瘤成分有关。我们还发现 miR-34a 与 L1CAM 蛋白表达之间存在负相关，表明 miR-34a 是 EC 的一个阳性预后标志物。
我们的结果表明，L1CAM 和 miR-34a 在 EC 中的表达是预后因素，可识别出高复发风险的患者亚组，提示对他们采取更积极的治疗方案。
