Pathology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital, Southwest Medical University, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
BMC Cancer. 2023 Feb 20;23(1):169. doi: 10.1186/s12885-023-10629-4.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), especially the nonkeratinizing type, is a malignant tumor primarily occurring in southern China and Southeast Asia. Chemotherapy (CT) and combined radiotherapy (RT) is used to treat NPC. However, the mortality rate is high in recurrent and metastatic NPC. We developed a molecular marker, analyzed its correlation with clinical characteristics, and assessed the prognostic value among NPC patients with or without chemoradiotherapy.
A total of 157 NPC patients were included in this study, with 120 undergoing treatment and 37 without treatment. EBER1/2 expression was investigated using in situ hybridization (ISH). Expression of PABPC1, Ki-67, and p53 was detected with immunohistochemistry. The correlations of EBER1/2 and the expression of the three proteins having clinical features and prognosis were evaluated.
The expression of PABPC1 was associated with age, recurrence, and treatment but not with gender, TNM classification, or the expression of Ki-67, p53, or EBER. High expression of PABPC1 was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) and was an independent predictor depending on multivariate analysis. Comparatively, no significant correlation was observed between the expression of p53, Ki-67, and EBER and survival. In this study, 120 patients received treatments and revealed significantly better OS and DFS than the untreated 37 patients. PABPC1 high expression was an independent predictor of shorter OS in the treated (HR = 4.012 (1.238-13.522), 95% CI, p = 0.021) and the untreated groups (HR = 5.473 (1.051-28.508), 95% CI, p = 0.044). However, it was not an independent predictor of shorter DFS in either the treated or the untreated groups. No significant survival difference was observed between patients with docetaxel-based induction chemotherapy (IC) + concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and those with paclitaxel-based IC + CCRT. However, when combined with treatment and PABPC1 expression, patients with paclitaxel-added chemoradiotherapy plus PABPC1 low expression had significantly better OS than those who underwent chemoradiotherapy (p = 0.036).
High expression of PABPC1 is associated with poorer OS and DFS among NPC patients. Patients with PABPC1 having low expression revealed good survival irrespective of the treatment received, indicating that PABPC1 could be a potential biomarker for triaging NPC patients.
鼻咽癌（NPC），尤其是非角化型，是一种主要发生在中国南方和东南亚的恶性肿瘤。化疗（CT）和联合放疗（RT）用于治疗 NPC。然而，复发性和转移性 NPC 的死亡率仍然很高。我们开发了一种分子标志物，分析其与临床特征的相关性，并评估其在接受或未接受放化疗的 NPC 患者中的预后价值。
本研究共纳入 157 例 NPC 患者，其中 120 例接受治疗，37 例未接受治疗。采用原位杂交（ISH）检测 EBER1/2 的表达。采用免疫组织化学法检测 PABPC1、Ki-67 和 p53 的表达。评估 EBER1/2 与三种蛋白的表达与临床特征和预后的相关性。
PABPC1 的表达与年龄、复发和治疗有关，但与性别、TNM 分类或 Ki-67、p53 或 EBER 的表达无关。PABPC1 高表达与总生存期（OS）和无病生存期（DFS）较差相关，且是多因素分析的独立预测因子。相比之下，p53、Ki-67 和 EBER 的表达与生存无显著相关性。在本研究中，120 例患者接受治疗，其 OS 和 DFS 明显优于未接受治疗的 37 例患者。PABPC1 高表达是治疗组（HR=4.012（1.238-13.522），95%CI，p=0.021）和未治疗组（HR=5.473（1.051-28.508），95%CI，p=0.044）OS 较短的独立预测因子。然而，它不是治疗组或未治疗组 DFS 较短的独立预测因子。接受多西他赛为基础的诱导化疗（IC）+同期放化疗（CCRT）和紫杉醇为基础的 IC+CCRT 的患者之间的生存无显著差异。然而，当与治疗和 PABPC1 表达相结合时，接受紫杉醇添加放化疗且 PABPC1 低表达的患者的 OS 明显优于接受放化疗的患者（p=0.036）。
PABPC1 高表达与 NPC 患者的 OS 和 DFS 较差相关。PABPC1 低表达的患者具有良好的生存，无论接受何种治疗，均提示 PABPC1 可能是 NPC 患者分层的潜在生物标志物。
