Comparison of ILK and ERP29 expressions in benign and malignant pancreatic lesions and their clinicopathological significances in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas.

Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly malignant tumor of the pancreas with poor prognosis. The lack of understanding of the molecular mechanisms of PDAC and biomarkers for early diagnosis might be two of the reasons for the poor prognosis of PDAC. ILK and ERP29 protein expressions in PDAC, peritumoral tissues, benign pancreatic lesions, and normal pancreatic tissues were measured by immunohistochemistry and the clinical and pathological significances of ILK and ERP29 in PDAC were analyzed. The percentages of positive ILK and negative ERP29 expressions were significantly higher in PDAC tumors than in peritumoral tissues, benign pancreatic tissues, and normal pancreatic tissues (P < 0.01). Benign pancreatic lesions with positive ILK and negative ERP29 expressions exhibited dysplasia or intraepithelial neoplasia. The percentage of cases with positive ILK and negative ERP29 expressions was significantly lower in PDAC patients without lymph node metastasis and invasion, and having TNM stage I/II disease than in patients with lymph node metastasis, invasion, and TNM stage III/IV disease (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that positive ILK and negative ERP29 expressions were significantly associated with survival in PDAC patients (P < 0.001). Cox multivariate analysis revealed that positive ILK and negative ERP29 expressions were independent poor prognosis factors in PDAC patients. Positive ILK and negative ERP29 expressions are associated with the progression of PDAC and poor prognosis in patients with PDAC.