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The increased expression of TCF 3 is correlated with poor prognosis in Chinese patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Author(s) -
Shen X.,
Yuan J.,
Zhang M.,
Li W.,
Ni B.,
Wu Y.,
Jiang L.,
Fan W.,
Tian Z.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
clinical otolaryngology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1749-4486
pISSN - 1749-4478
DOI - 10.1111/coa.12834
Subject(s) - nasopharyngeal carcinoma , medicine , immunohistochemistry , cancer research , transcription factor , oncology , cancer , biopsy , carcinoma , clinical significance , reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction , pathology , gene expression , biology , gene , radiation therapy , biochemistry
Objectives Regulatory factors controlling stem cell identity and self‐renewal are often active in aggressive cancers and are thought to promote cancer growth and progression. B‐cell‐specific transcription factor 3 ( TCF 3/E2A) is a member of the T‐cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor ( TCF / LEF ) transcription factor family that is central to regulating epidermal and embryonic stem cell identity. It has been reported that TCF 3 was connected with the development and progression of a number of human cancers. In this study, we aimed to identify the expression of TCF 3 in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma ( NPC ) and evaluate its clinical significance. Design To investigate the expression of TCF 3 in NPC and its relationship to prognosis. Setting An in vitro study. Main outcome measures We analysed the expression of TCF 3 in NPC and in non‐tumourous nasopharyngeal tissues by quantitative RT ‐ PCR and Western blotting. The expression patterns of TCF 3 in 117 archived paraffin‐embedded NPC specimens were characterised by immunohistochemistry, and the correlation between the TCF 3 protein expression and the clinicopathological features of NPC was analysed. Results We observed that TCF 3 had a higher expression in NPC than in non‐tumourous nasopharyngeal tissues of 117 archived paraffin‐embedded NPC specimens, and 80 (68.4%) biopsy tissues revealed high levels of TCF 3 expression. Furthermore, statistical analyses demonstrated that the increased expression of TCF 3 was closely related to clinical stage, locoregional recurrence and distant metastasis of NPC . NPC patients with high levels of TCF 3 expression had a shorter survival time, whereas patients with lower levels of TCF 3 expression survived longer. Moreover, multivariate analysis suggested that the upregulation of TCF 3 was a critical prognostic factor for NPC . Conclusions Our observations suggest, for the first time, that TCF 3 is significantly associated with the development and progression of NPC , which can be used as an important prognostic marker for patients with NPC and may be an effective target for the treatment of NPC .