Association between Wnt inhibitory factor 1 and receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 protein expression and the clinical pathological significance in benign and malignant pancreatic lesions

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most malignant types of tumor. It is important to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms of pancreatic tumorigenesis and to identify novel biomarkers as therapeutic targets of pancreatic cancer. In the present study, the protein expression levels of Wnt inhibitory factor 1 (WIF1) and receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 (ROR2) were examined in a collection of pancreatic ductal carcinoma and benign pancreatic lesion tissue samples using immunohistochemistry. The positive expression rate of WIF1 protein in pancreatic ductal carcinoma was demonstrated to be significantly decreased compared with that of the paracancerous tissue, benign lesions and wild-type pancreatic tissue (P=0.002, P<0.0001, P=0.001, respectively). The positive expression rate of ROR2 protein in pancreatic ductal carcinoma was demonstrated to be significantly increased compared with that of the paracancerous tissue, benign lesions and wild-type pancreatic tissue (P<0.0001). There was a negative association between WIF1 and ROR2 expression in the pancreatic ductal carcinoma samples (P=0.004). The survival period of patients with negative WIF1 and positive ROR2 protein expression was demonstrated to be significantly decreased compared with that of patients with positive WIF1 and negative ROR2 protein expression (P<0.0001). The expression levels of WIF1 and ROR2 protein reflected the incidence, development, clinical and biological behavior, and prognosis of pancreatic ductal carcinoma. Patients with negative WIF1 and positive ROR2 protein expression had poor prognosis. The results indicate that WIF1 and ROR2 are important biomarkers in pancreatic cancer.