TXNDC17 protein overexpression in uterine papillary serous carcinoma is associated with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis

Abstract

Objective: To analyze clinicopathological characteristics of patients with uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) in China, and investigate roles of TXNDC17 protein in UPSC clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. Methods: Fifty-five patients with UPSC treated in Women's Hospital School of Medicine Zhejiang University from 2003 to 2016 were analysed retrospectively. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) were performed to TXNDC17 and BECN1 (Beclin 1 protein, a key regulator of autophagy) protein expression respectively. Kaplan-Meier was used to calculate the cumulative survival rate, Log-rank test was performed to compare the difference in cumulative survival rate among patients with different clinicopathological characteristics, and Cox regression model was used to analyze the related between TXNDC17 expression and prognosis of UPSC patients. Results: The median age of the 55 UPSC patients was 63(49, 79) years, 43.6%(24/55) with late stages (stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ), and 32.7 % (18/55) exhibiting more than half of myometrium invasion were enrolled. Notably, 28 (50.9%) patients had TXNDC17 protein overexpression, and associated with BECN1 overexpression(P=0.023). Besides, co-expression of TXNDC17 and BECN1 occurred at an advanced stage and deep myometrial invasion (P=0.013,0.009). The cumulative survival rate of TXNDC17 overexpression(37.4% vs 91.5%),FIGO Ⅲ/Ⅳ stage(44.1% vs 70.1%), deep myometrium invasion(36.1% vs 75.4%) and BECN1 overexpression(0 vs 83.0%)patients was low (P<0.05). The multivariate proportional hazards model revealed that myometrial invasion and TXNDC17 overexpression were associated with prognosis of UPSC patients. Conclusions: This study shows that TXNDC17 overexpression is associate with poor survival in UPSC patients. Co-expression of TXNDC17 and BECN1 shows characteristics of advanced stages and deep myometrial invasion. TXNDC17 may be a potential predictor or target in UPSC therapeutics..