EEF1A2 protein expression correlates with lymph node metastasis and decreased survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Abstract

To examine eukaryotic elongation factor1A2 (eEF1A2) expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) and to analyze its relationship with the clinicopathol¬ogy of PDA. eEF1A2 expression was examined in 97 PDA specimens by immunohistochemistry. We also analyzed the association between FAP expression in PDAC cells and the clinicopathology of PDA patients. eEF1A2 expression was absent in normal pancreatic tissue. In contrast, in PDA, eEF1A2 showed positive immunoreactivity in 76 of 97 (77.8%) PDA cases. We found significant associations between increased eEF1A2 expression and the presence of nodal metastasis (p=0.039) and perineural invasion (p=0.043). Univariate analysis of survival showed that the median overall survival time of eEF1A2-positive PDA patients (11.7 months) was significantly shorter than that of eEF1A2-negative PDAC patients (17.5 months; p<0.001). In addition, when the Cox proportion hazard model was used in multivariate survival analysis, we revealed that eEF1A2 expression (p<0.001; hazard rate, 95%CI 2.91-13.61) and TNM stage (p<0.001 hazard rate, 95%CI 0.18-0.23) still remained statistically significant. eEF1A2 is highly expressed in PDA, and its expression is associated with nodal metastasis and perineural invasion, as well as worse prognosis.