Abstract

BackgroundPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a lethal disease with a 5-year survival rate of 4% and typically presents in an advanced stage. In this setting, prognostic markers identifying the more agrressive tumors could aid in managment decisions. Insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 3 (IGF2BP3, also known as IMP3 or KOC) is an oncofetal RNA-binding protein that regulates targets such as insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF-2) and ACTB (beta-actin).MethodsWe evaluated the expression of IGF2BP3 by immunohistochemistry using a tissue microarray of 127 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas with tumor grade 1, 2 and 3 according to WHO criteria, and the prognostic value of IGF2BP3 expression.ResultsIGF2BP3 was found to be selectively overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissues but not in benign pancreatic tissues. Nine (38%) patient samples of tumor grade 1 (n = 24) and 27 (44%) of tumor grade 2 (n = 61) showed expression of IGF2BP3. The highest rate of expression was seen in poorly differentiated specimen (grade 3, n = 42) with 26 (62%) positive samples. Overall survival was found to be significantly shorter in patients with IGF2BP3 expressing tumors (P = 0.024; RR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.8).ConclusionsOur data suggest that IGF2BP3 overexpression identifies a subset of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas with an extremely poor outcome and supports the rationale for developing therapies to target the IGF pathway in this cancer.

Highlights

  • Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a lethal disease with a 5-year survival rate of 4% and typically presents in an advanced stage

  • Patients and tumor specimens The expression of IGF2BP3 and insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF-2) was evaluated by immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray of 127 pancreatic adenocarcinoma, ranging from tumor grade 1, 2 and 3, from patients who underwent surgical resection at Vancouver General Hospital

  • IGF2BP3 expression pattern and survival IGF2BP3 is selectively overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissues but not in benign pancreatic tissues, consistent with previous reports [14,15]

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Summary

Introduction

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a lethal disease with a 5-year survival rate of 4% and typically presents in an advanced stage In this setting, prognostic markers identifying the more agrressive tumors could aid in managment decisions. IGF2BP3 was first cloned from a pancreatic tumor cDNA screen and was originally designated as KOC (KH-domain containing protein overexpressed in cancer) [5] It is known as an oncofetal protein because its expression is highest during embryogenesis [6,7,8,9,10], and is completely silenced in normal adult mouse tissues and is almost so in normal adult human tissues (with fibroblasts, lymphocytes, and the testes being the exceptions) [10,11]. The objective of the present study was to determine if expression of IGF2BP3 correlates with patient prognosis

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