乳腺癌外周血标记物NPY1R的检测及临床意义

Detection and clinical significance of the peripheral blood tumor marker NPY1R for circulating breast cancer cells

目的:鉴定一种新的检测乳腺癌循环癌细胞的肿瘤标记物NPY1R(neuropeptide Y receptor Y1)。探讨NPY1R在乳腺癌外周血中的表达水平及其与临床病理学特征的关系。方法:通过肿瘤基因组解剖计划(cancer genome anatomy project,CGAP)数据库的数字基因表达演示工具(digital gene expression displayer,DGED),发现了一种新的乳腺癌外周血标记物NPY1R。采用实时半定量巢式PCR技术,检测了142例乳腺癌和60例正常人外周血中NPY1R的表达水平,并进一步分析了NPY1R表达与乳腺癌临床病理特征的相关性。对131例患者随访38个月,观察NPY1R的表达对乳腺癌患者生存时间的影响。结果:证实NPY1R在142例乳腺癌外周血中的表达水平明显高于正常组(P<0.01)。并且,NPY1R在外周血中的表达水平与临床分期、淋巴结转移和ER、PR、HER2具有相关性(P<0.05)。131例随访患者中,NPY1R表达阳性组的生存率显著低于阴性组(P<0.01)。结论:NPY1R是外周血循环癌细胞一种新的肿瘤标记物,可作为判断乳腺癌转移和预后的评估指标。

Objective： This study aimed to evaluate a new tumor marker, NPY1R, for the detection of circulating breast cancer cells and to investigate the relationship between NPY1R expression and the clinicopathological features of breast cancer patients. Methods： The marker NPY1R, which could detect circulating cancer cells, was identified by the Digital Gene Expression Displayer tool of the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project. The expression levels of NPY1R in 142 breast cancer patients and 60 healthy volunteers were determined using the real-time semi-quantitative nested polymerase chain reaction. The correlation between NPY1R expression and the clinicopathological features of the patients was then analyzed. A follow-up study was performed with 131 breast cancer patients for 38 months to observe the effect of NPY1R expression on the survival of breast cancer patients. Results： NPY1R was highly expressed in the cancer patients as compared with the normal controls （P 〈 0.01）. The high-level expression of NPY1R was positively correlated with the clinical stages and lymph node metastasis as well as the status of the estrogen and progesterone receptors （P〈0.05）. Breast cancer patients with circulating cancer cells that expressed NPY1R had shorter tumor-specific survival as compared with those without NPY1R expression （P 〈 0.01）. Conclusion： NPY1R may serve as a useful marker to predict cancer metastasis and to evaluate the prognosis of breast cancer patients.