Overexpression of Neuron-Specific Enolase as a Prognostic Factor in Patients with Gastric Cancer.
- Author:
Taejin PARK
1
;
Young Joon LEE
;
Sang Ho JEONG
;
Sang Kyung CHOI
;
Eun Jung JUNG
;
Young tae JU
;
Chi Young JEONG
;
Miyeong PARK
;
Young Sool HAH
;
Jiyun YOO
;
Woo Song HA
;
Soon Chan HONG
;
Gyung Hyuck KO
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Stomach neoplasms; Neuron-specific enolase; Neoplasm metastasis; Prognosis
- MeSH: Cytoplasm; Healthy Volunteers; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Lymph Nodes; Neoplasm Metastasis; Phosphoenolpyruvate; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase*; Prognosis; Recurrence; Stomach Neoplasms*; World Health Organization
- From:Journal of Gastric Cancer 2017;17(3):228-236
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: PURPOSE: Enolase is a cytoplasmic enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of 2-phosphoglycerate to phosphoenolpyruvate in the glycolytic pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the overexpression of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) can serve as a prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer (GC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: To assess its prognostic value in GC, NSE expression was measured by immunohistochemistry in a clinically annotated tissue microarray comprising of 327 human GC specimens. Cytoplasmic NSE expression was scored from 0 to 4, reflecting the percentage of NSE-positive cells. RESULTS: In terms of histology as per the World Health Organization criteria (P=0.340), there were no differences between the NSE overexpression (NSE-OE) and NSE underexpression (NSE-UE) groups. The NSE-OE group showed a significantly lower rate of advanced GC (P<0.010), lymph node metastasis (P=0.010), advanced stage group (P<0.010), cancer-related death (P<0.010), and cancer recurrence (P<0.010). Additionally, a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the NSE-OE group had longer cumulative survival times than the NSE-UE group (log-rank test, P<0.010). However, there were no significant differences in the serum levels of NSE expression in patients with GC and healthy volunteers (P=0.280). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with NSE overexpressing GC tissues showed better prognostic results, implying that NSE could be a candidate biomarker of GC.
