Tumor-related gene expression levels in thymic carcinoma and Type B3 thymoma
نویسندگان
چکیده
BACKGROUND Thymic carcinoma (TC) is a rare type of malignant neoplasm that develops in the anterior mediastinum and associated with poor prognosis. Type B3 thymoma (B3) occasionally demonstrates malignant tumor characteristics, especially in the advanced stage. We investigated the expressions of tumor-related genes in resected TC and B3 specimens. METHODS TC and B3 specimens resected from 1999 through 2012 were investigated. Tumor segments were collected from the specimens by micro-dissection to extract mRNA, then RT-PCR was performed according to Dannenberg's tumor profile method for semi-quantitation of tumor-related gene mRNA. To compare with other types of cancer, data from lung cancer (LC) cases in our database were also examined. RESULTS The gene expression levels of thymidylate synthase were significantly higher in TC and B3 as compared to LC specimens (p < 0.02), while no difference were observed between TC and B3 tumors. The ratio of folypolyglutamyl synthase (FPGS) to gamma-glutamyl hydrolase (GGH) mRNA was significantly lower in TC than in B3 (p < 0.05), with lower FPGS/GGH in those tumors related to overall survival. Also, the gene expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was significantly higher in TC as compared to B3 (p = 0.04), with higher VEGF gene expression in TC and B3 specimens related to overall survival of affected patients. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression was significantly higher in B3 as compared to both TC and LC specimens (p < 0.01). However, there were no EGFR gene mutations detected in any of the specimens. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that elevated expressions of the tumor-related genes FPGS/GGH and VEGF are correlated with malignancy of TC and B3 tumors. Additional examinations will be necessary to investigate their chemosensitivity.
منابع مشابه
Treatment Results and Prognostic Indicators in Thymic Epithelial Tumors: A Clinicopathological Analysis of 45 Patients
Background: Thymomas are rare epithelial tumors arising from thymus gland. This study aims at investigating the clinical presentation, prognostic factors and treatment outcome of forty five patients with thymoma and thymic carcinoma. Methods: Forty-five patients being histologically diagnosed with thymoma or thymic carcinoma that were treated and followed-up at a tertiary academic hospital duri...
متن کاملRare frequency of gene variation and survival analysis in thymic epithelial tumors
OBJECTIVE Thymic epithelial tumor (TET) is a rare mediastinal neoplasm and little is known about its genetic variability and prognostic factors. This study investigated the genetic variability and prognostic factors of TET. PATIENTS AND METHODS We sequenced 22 cancer-related hotspot genes in TET tissues and matched normal tissues using Ampliseq Ion Torrent next-generation technology. Overall ...
متن کاملExpression of c-Jun, p73, Casp9, and N-ras in thymic epithelial tumors: relationship with the current WHO classification systems
BACKGROUND To evaluate the expression and differential significance of c-Jun, p73, Casp-9 and N-ras in thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) with the aim to provide useful information for tumor biology and prospective therapy. METHODS In this study, we analyzed the expression of four chromosome 1-related genes, namely c-Jun, p73, Casp-9 and N-ras, in 60 cases of thymic epithelial tumors. The tumors...
متن کاملThe evaluation of immunohistochemical markers and thymic cortical microenvironmental cells in distinguishing thymic carcinoma from type b3 thymoma or lung squamous cell carcinoma.
Thymic carcinoma (TC) is often very difficult to distinguish from type B3 thymoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma (L-SCC) involving the anterior mediastinum. The present study evaluated the usefulness of immunohistochemical markers including c-Kit, CD5, glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1), claudin-1 (CLDN-1), thymoproteasome β5t, p53 and Ki-67 (MIB-1) and thymic cortical environmental marker cells,...
متن کاملCan 18F-FDG PET predict the grade of malignancy in thymic epithelial tumors? An evaluation of only resected tumors
Objective Although 18-fluorine fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) is thought to be useful for predicting the histological grade of thymic epithelial tumors (TETs), it remains controversial. To date, just a few of many previous studies have included only resected cases. Therefore, we investigated 18F-FDG PET findings only in patients with resected TETs. Patients and ...
متن کامل