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Tumor Biology
Published in: Tumor Biology 1/2014

01-01-2014 | Research Article

Cytoplasmic expression of the ELAV-like protein HuR as a potential prognostic marker in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Authors: Cong Zhang, Guoliang Xue, Jingwang Bi, Ming Geng, Huili Chu, Yaping Guan, Jun Wang, Baocheng Wang

Published in: Tumor Biology | Issue 1/2014

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Abstract

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most frequent cancers and a leading cause of death from cancer in China. The human ELAV-like protein HuR has been found to contribute to cancer development and progression through stabilizing a group of cellular mRNAs of cancer-related genes. In this study, we investigated the expression of HuR in a cohort of ESCC patients using immunohistochemical staining. HuR detected in the cytoplasm of cancer cells was positive in 46.6 % of 58 ESCC specimens; 75.9 % of these specimens had nuclear immunoreactivity for HuR. Cytoplasmic HuR expression was higher in cancer tissues compared to 20 matched adjacent noncancerous tissues. A clinicopathological study showed that cytoplasmic HuR expression was positively associated with lymph node metastasis, depth of tumor invasion, and advanced stage, whereas nuclear HuR expression was not correlated with any clinicopathological factors. Patients positive for cytoplasmic HuR expression had a cumulative 5-year survival rate of 25.3 %, whereas it was 43.8 % for patients negative for cytoplasmic HuR expression. In a multivariate analysis, cytoplasmic HuR expression was an independent prognostic factor, whereas nuclear positivity for HuR was not. Our results indicate that high cytoplasmic HuR expression is associated with positive lymph node metastasis, deep tumor invasion, high stage, and poor survival in ESCC. Thus, HuR is the first mRNA stability protein whose expression is associated with poor survival in esophageal cancer.
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Metadata
Title
Cytoplasmic expression of the ELAV-like protein HuR as a potential prognostic marker in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Authors
Cong Zhang
Guoliang Xue
Jingwang Bi
Ming Geng
Huili Chu
Yaping Guan
Jun Wang
Baocheng Wang
Publication date
01-01-2014
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Tumor Biology / Issue 1/2014
Print ISSN: 1010-4283
Electronic ISSN: 1423-0380
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-013-1008-4

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