BACKGROUNDPancreatic cancer is a lethal disease that is often diagnosed at an advanced stage. There is a lack of information to predict the prognosis of pancreatic cancer. Krüppel-like factor (KLF) 8 has been found to be deregulated in multiple cancers, and its high expression was correlated with poor prognosis. However, so far, no information was reported about the expression of KLF8 in pancreatic cancer. In the present study, we investigated, possibly for the first time, the expression of KLF8 in pancreatic cancer samples and analyzed its correlation with clinical parameters and overall survival (OS) rate.

METHODSWe used immunohistochemical staining to detect KLF8 in 68 samples from patients who underwent surgery and its correlation with the clinicopathological characteristics. We used Kaplan-Meier curve to analyze the relationship between KLF8 expression and the OS time. Univariate analysis was performed in addition to multivariate hazard models with clinicopathological features to assess KLF8 as an independent prognostic factor.

RESULTSKLF8 was present in the cytoplasm of pancreatic cancer cells and 52.9% of the 68 cases had positive expression. KLF8 expression was not associated with sex, age, tumor location, lymph node stage, and metastasis stage, but was associated with tumor stage (P = 0.04). Kaplan-Meier method demonstrated that patients with negative expression of KLF8 had a better prognosis. In univariate and multivariate models, KLF8 was a significant predictor of OS in pancreatic cancer.

CONCLUSIONOur results revealed that KLF8 may be a potential prognostic factor for pancreatic cancer.