Abstract
BackgroundPTEN is a tumor suppressor gene that regulates the PTEN/PI3k/AKT/mTOR pathway, which is frequently altered in human cancers including gallbladder cancer (GBC). To determine the frequency of PTEN expression in GBC and to establish its relation to clinical and morphological parameters and survival in GBC.MethodsThe immunohistochemical expression of PTEN was studied in 108 GBC. All the cases included areas of non-tumor mucosa adjacent to the tumor.ResultsThe group was comprised of 108 patients, 91 women (84.3 %) and 17 men (15.7 %) with an average age of 65.2 years (SD ± 12.3 years). Thirty-five cases (33 %) were early carcinomas (EC) and the remaining 73 (67 %) were advanced cases (AC). All the internal controls were positive (moderate or intense in 96.3 %). Only in three AC (4.1 %) was there a complete absence of PTEN immunohistochemical expression. There were no significant differences in relation between PTEN expression and tumor infiltration or degree of differentiation. The three patients with PTEN inactivation died before 10 months; however, the other patients with AC had a survival of 53 % at 10 months.DiscussionLoss of PTEN expression was observed in 4.1 % of the advanced GBC. All the patients with this alteration died before 10 months. PTEN inactivation could be a rare event, but with a poor prognosis in advanced GBC.
Highlights
PTEN is a tumor suppressor gene that regulates the PTEN/PI3k/AKT/mTOR pathway, which is frequently altered in human cancers including gallbladder cancer (GBC)
For many years Chile has had the highest incidence and mortality due to GBC in the world, in both genders, and it represents the second cause of death by malignant tumors in women in Chile [1,2,3]
Immunohistochemical technique The immunohistochemical study was performed on complete histological sections, taking the lack of information regarding the degree of heterogeneity of PTEN protein expression in this and other neoplasias into consideration
Summary
PTEN is a tumor suppressor gene that regulates the PTEN/PI3k/AKT/mTOR pathway, which is frequently altered in human cancers including gallbladder cancer (GBC). For many years Chile has had the highest incidence and mortality due to GBC in the world, in both genders, and it represents the second cause of death by malignant tumors in women in Chile [1,2,3]. GBC ranks 20th among all malignant tumors with an incidence of 2.2 × 106 inhabitants, and 22nd for mortality (0.7 × 106) with a prevalence at 5 years of 16.8 × 106 inhabitants [2]. PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog) is a tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome 10q23. 3. PTEN encodes a protein with a phosphatase function which, as it removes phosphate groups, inactivates substrates and acts as a tumor suppressor gene [9, 14].
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