Prognostic Significance of Thymosin- 4 in Gastric Adenocarcinoma Patients.
- Author:
Lucia KIM
1
;
Ye Ji KIM
;
Suk Jin CHOI
;
In Suh PARK
;
Jee Young HAN
;
Young Chae CHU
;
Joon Mee KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Pathology, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea. jmkpath@inha.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Stomach cancer;
Thymosin-beta4;
Metastasis;
Survival
- MeSH:
Actins;
Adenocarcinoma*;
Cadherins;
Cell Movement;
Classification;
Cyclin D1;
Disease Progression;
Humans;
Multivariate Analysis;
Neoplasm Metastasis;
Polymerization;
Polymers;
Recurrence;
Stomach Neoplasms;
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A;
Wound Healing
- From:Korean Journal of Pathology
2007;41(3):176-182
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Background : Thymosin- 4 is an actin-sequestering protein that regulates actin polymerization. It is known to be associated with cell migration, angiogenesis and wound healing, as well as with tumor metastasis. Methods : We immunohistochemically evaluated the thymosin- 4 expression in gastric adenocarcinoma specimens, the relationship between this protein and the pathologic features and other tumor-related proteins, and its influence on the patient outcome. Results : We demonstrated that 40 specimens (26.3%) of 152 gastric adenocarcinomas showed positivity for thymosin- 4. The thymosin- 4 expression was statistically associated with advanced tumor stage (p=0.010), the nodal stage (p=0.029), the TNM stage (p=0.008), and the presence of lymphovascular invasion (p=0.009). The thymosin- 4 protein expression was closely related to the positivity for VEGF (p=0.000), c-Myc (p=0.007), and cyclin D1 (p=0.005), but it was not associated with the E-cadherin (p=0.861) or -catenin (p=0.640) expressions. The median survival and disease relapse time of patients showing thymosin-4 immunoreactivity were statistically shorter than those of patients without expression. Multivariate analysis showed that the tumor stage (p=0.003), nodal stage (p=0.005), thymosin- 4 expression (p=0.019) and Lauren's classification (p=0.037) were statistically important prognostic factors for gastric adenocarcinomas. Conclusions : The thymosin- 4 expression might be associated with disease progression of gastric adenocarcinomas and it should be regarded as an important prognostic factor for estimating patient survival.
