P-0101 Prognostic Significance of Autophagy-Related Proteins Expression in Resected Pancreatic Cancer

Abstract

IntroductionAutophagy is a critical intracellular pathway for removal of aggregated proteins and damaged organelles. The aim of this study was to explore the contribution of autophagy-related proteins on clinical outcomes of patients with resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). MethodsThe expression of five autophagy-related proteins in the PDAC tissues of 73 patients was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using a tissue array method. In addition, clinicopathological characteristics and survival were compared with the expression of autophagy-related proteins. ResultsOf the 73 patients, autophagy-related proteins expression frequencies were 49.3% (36/73) for ATG 5, 63.9% (46/72) for ambra 1, 47.9% (35/73) for beclin-1, 83.3% (60/72) for LC3B, and 69.9% (51/73) for bif-1. The correlation between the expressions of autophagy-related proteins was statistically significant in all protein pairs. Advanced T stage was marginally associated with a higher number of protein changes (P=0.059). Multivariate analysis revealed that beclin 1 overexpression or increases in alteration of autophagy-related proteins wereindependently associated with poor prognosis (hazard ratio 5.365, P=0.001 and hazard ratio 5.270, P=0.022, respectively). ConclusionThe acquisition of autophagy-related proteins is associated with poor clinical outcome in PDAC. The awareness and inhibition of autophagy offer a potential therapeutic target for PDAC.