Expression of pim-1 in tumors, tumor stroma and tumor-adjacent mucosa co-determines the prognosis of colon cancer patients

PLoS One. 2013 Oct 7;8(10):e76693. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076693. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Provirus integration site for Moloney murine leukemia virus (pim-1) is a proto-oncogene that is linked to the development and progression of several cancers. In this study, we evaluated pim-1 expression in tumors, tumor stroma and tumor-adjacent mucosa together as an independent prognostic factor for colon cancer patients. The study included 343 colon cancer patients. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect pim-1. Multivariate cox regression for disease-free survival (DFS) were used to identify independent prognostic factors. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to calculate the weight of pim-1 in tumors, tumor stroma and tumor-adjacent mucosa in order to obtain a Pim-1 total score (PTS) for recurrence and survival. Kaplan-Meier DFS curves and OS curves for patients with different pim-1 expression levels were compared using the log-rank test. In this study, four independent prognostic factors were identified for colon cancer patients: pim-1 expression in tumors, tumor stroma, tumor-adjacent mucosa, as well as tumor stage. It has been established that clinical stage is an important prognostic factor for colon cancer patients. However, PTS can identify the patients who are likely to recur not only in the whole radical excision group but also within each stage of this group. Based on the results of this study we can conclude that the PTS combined with clinical staging system may be a better predictor of colon cancer patients' prognosis than using the clinical stage system alone. ClinicalTrials.gov Number: ChiCTR-PRCH-12002842.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Colon / enzymology*
  • Colon / pathology
  • Colonic Neoplasms / enzymology*
  • Colonic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry / statistics & numerical data
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mucous Membrane / enzymology*
  • Mucous Membrane / pathology
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Prognosis
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Proto-Oncogene Mas
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-pim-1 / metabolism*
  • Tissue Array Analysis / statistics & numerical data

Substances

  • MAS1 protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Mas
  • PIM1 protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-pim-1

Associated data

  • ChiCTR/CHICTR-PRCH-12002842

Grants and funding

Grant support was provided by Natural Science of Fujian Province (grant number 009J01184). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.