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Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology 5/2016

01-12-2016 | Thoracic Oncology

Prognostic Significance of Expression of the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition-Related Factor Brachyury in Intrathoracic Lymphatic Spread of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Authors: Shinichiro Shimamatsu, MD, Tatsuro Okamoto, MD, PhD, Akira Haro, MD, PhD, Hirokazu Kitahara, MD, Mikihiro Kohno, MD, PhD, Yosuke Morodomi, MD, PhD, Tetsuzo Tagawa, MD, PhD, Shinji Okano, MD, PhD, Yoshinao Oda, MD, PhD, Yoshihiko Maehara, MD, PhD

Published in: Annals of Surgical Oncology | Special Issue 5/2016

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Abstract

Background

Brachyury is a transcriptional regulator that plays important roles in epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) during development and has been reported to be essential for mesoderm formation in the early human embryo. We investigated Brachyury protein expression in hilar and mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes of non-small cell lung cancer patients and the prognostic significance of Brachyury expression at metastatic sites.

Methods

Expression of Brachyury in 115 surgically resected primary lung cancer and corresponding metastatic lymph node samples was evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. The relationships between Brachyury protein expression and the patient’s clinicopathological factors and prognosis were analyzed.

Results

Brachyury expression in metastatic lymph nodes was significantly higher than that in the primary tumor (p = 0.012). Patients with high Brachyury expression in the metastatic lymph nodes had significantly poor prognoses (p = 0.0236) compared with patients with low expression. In addition, patients with larger differences in Brachyury expression between metastatic lymph nodes and the primary tumor had significantly poorer prognoses compared with patients with smaller differences (p = 0.0146). The Brachyury protein expression level in metastatic lymph nodes was significantly associated with the protein expression levels of other EMT-related factors (E-cadherin [inverse association], p = 0.0265; Slug, p = 0.029; and interleukin-8, p = 0.0135).

Conclusions

High expression of Brachyury protein in metastatic carcinoma cells in the intrathoracic lymph nodes was associated with poor prognosis of lung cancer patients. Increased Brachyury expression during the metastatic process may confer further potential for invasion and metastasis of cancer cells.
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Metadata
Title
Prognostic Significance of Expression of the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition-Related Factor Brachyury in Intrathoracic Lymphatic Spread of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Authors
Shinichiro Shimamatsu, MD
Tatsuro Okamoto, MD, PhD
Akira Haro, MD, PhD
Hirokazu Kitahara, MD
Mikihiro Kohno, MD, PhD
Yosuke Morodomi, MD, PhD
Tetsuzo Tagawa, MD, PhD
Shinji Okano, MD, PhD
Yoshinao Oda, MD, PhD
Yoshihiko Maehara, MD, PhD
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Annals of Surgical Oncology / Issue Special Issue 5/2016
Print ISSN: 1068-9265
Electronic ISSN: 1534-4681
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-016-5530-7

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