Premium
Clinicopathological significance of ASC amino acid transporter‐2 expression in pancreatic ductal carcinoma
Author(s) -
Kaira Kyoichi,
Sunose Yutaka,
Arakawa Kazuhisa,
Sunaga Noriaki,
Shimizu Kimihiro,
Tominaga Hideyuki,
Oriuchi Noboru,
Nagamori Shushi,
Kanai Yoshikatsu,
Oyama Tetsunari,
Takeyoshi Izumi
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
histopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.626
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1365-2559
pISSN - 0309-0167
DOI - 10.1111/his.12464
Subject(s) - pancreatic cancer , immunohistochemistry , adenocarcinoma , pathological , medicine , stage (stratigraphy) , pathology , oncology , cancer , biology , paleontology
Aims ASC amino acid transporter‐2 ( ASCT 2) is highly expressed in cancer cells. However, the clinicopathological significance of ASCT 2 expression in pancreatic cancer remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of ASCT 2 expression in pancreatic cancer. Methods and results Ninety‐seven patients with surgically resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were evaluated. Tumour sections were stained by immunohistochemistry for ASCT 2, K i67, CD 34 (to determine microvessel density), phospho‐ AKT (p‐ AKT ) and phospho‐mammalian target of rapamycin (p‐m TOR ) expression. ASCT 2 was expressed in 54% (52/97) of tumours. Statistically significant differences in patient age, T stage, N stage, lymphatic permeation, vascular invasion, K i67, and CD 34 and p‐m TOR expression were observed between tumours with and without ASCT 2 expression. Multivariate analysis confirmed that vascular invasion, ASCT 2 expression and K i67 expression were independent predictive factors for a poorer prognosis. Conclusions ASCT 2 expression plays an important role in tumour cell growth, and is a promising pathological marker for predicting a worse outcome in pancreatic cancer.