脂肪非典型钙黏蛋白4在胰腺癌组织中的表达水平及其与临床病理特征的关系

Clinical significance of FAT4 protein expression in pancreatic cancer

目的 研究脂肪非典型钙黏蛋白4(FAT4)在胰腺癌及其癌旁组织中的表达,分析其与临床病理特征的关系,探索FAT4在胰腺癌发生发展过程中所起的作用。方法 收集郑州大学附属肿瘤医院2015年1月—2017年1月期间79例行根治性手术切除,且术后病理确诊为胰腺导管腺癌患者的胰腺癌组织及癌旁组织,采用免疫组化法检测FAT4蛋白在胰腺癌组织及癌旁组织中的表达,并分析FAT4蛋白表达情况与临床病理特征的关系。等级资料组间比较采用Mann-Whitney U检验;计数资料组间比较采用χ^(2)检验。相关性分析采用Spearman分析。结果 FAT4蛋白在胰腺癌组织中低表达率为72.15%(52/79),在癌旁组织中低表达率为21.52%(17/79),差异有统计学意义(P<0.001)。患者背痛在FAT4蛋白低表达和高表达间差异有统计学意义(χ^(2)=4.115,P=0.042)。淋巴结转移、神经浸润在FAT4蛋白低表达与高表达间差异均有统计学意义(χ^(2)值分别为8.743、4.925,P值分别为0.003、0.026)。Spearman相关分析结果显示FAT4蛋白表达与胰腺癌的TNM分期、分化程度无关(P值均>0.05)。结论 与癌旁组织相比,FAT4蛋白在胰腺癌组织中明显低表达,且与背痛症状、淋巴结转移及神经浸润的发生相关,提示FAT4可能与胰腺癌的发生发展相关。

Objective To detect the expression of fat atypical cadherin 4(FAT4) in pancreatic cancer tissue and para-carcinoma tissue, and explored the role of FAT4 in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. Methods Pancreatic cancer tissue samples and adjacent tissue samples were collected from 79 patients who underwent radical resection in The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2015 to January 2017 and were diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma based on postoperative pathology. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure the protein expression of FAT4 in pancreatic cancer tissue and adjacent tissue, and the association between FAT4 expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of ranked data between groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data. A Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between variables. Results The down-regulated expression of FAT4 was detected in 72.15%(52/79) of pancreatic cancer tissue, which was significant higher than that in para-cancer tissues(21.52%, 17/79, P<0.001). There was a significant difference in backache between the low FAT4 expression group and the high FAT4 expression group(χ^(2)=4.115, P=0.042), and there were also significant differences in lymph node metastasis and perineural invasion between these two groups(χ^(2)=8.743 and 4.925, P=0.003 and 0.026). TNM staging and degree of tumor differentiation were ranked variables, and the analysis of the association between these two variables and FAT4 expression based on Spearman rank correlation coefficient showed that FAT4 expression was not associated with the TNM staging and degree of tumor differentiation of pancreatic cancer(all P>0.05). Conclusion The expression of FAT4 was significantly down-regulated in pancreatic cancer, suggesting that FAT4 may promote the invasion and infiltration of pancreatic cancer.