WNT8B as an Independent Prognostic Marker for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Chawalit Ngernsombat,Krittika Khotthong,Noppadol Larbcharoensub,Pongphol Prattapong,Tavan Janvilisri

doi:10.3390/curroncol28040230

Chawalit Ngernsombat, Krittika Khotthong + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol28040230

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Journal: Current Oncology	Publication Date: Jul 8, 2021
Citations: 3	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Mahidol University, Ramathibodi Hospital

Abstract

Background: Members of the Wnt signaling pathway have been shown to play a role in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) progression. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate WNT8B protein expression in NPC patients using tissue microarray (TMA) analysis and to evaluate its correlation with patient survival and clinical parameters. Methods: A total of 82 NPC cases, together with six normal nasopharyngeal tissue samples, were targeted to construct the TMA blocks. The WNT8B protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and its correlation to the clinicopathological features was investigated. Results: Sixty-two of 82 (75.6%) cases exhibited high WNT8B protein expression while 20/82 (24.4%) cases appeared to have low WNT8B expression. The univariate analysis revealed that systemic metastasis was associated with patient 5-year survival. The multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that WNT8B expression and systemic metastasis were significantly associated with the survival of NPC patients. Furthermore, there was no correlation found between the WNT8B protein expression and other clinicopathological parameters. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the expression of WNT8B is associated with NPC patients’ survival and could serve as an independent prognostic factor for NPC patients.

Highlights

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a primary malignancy arising from the epithelial cells of the nasopharynx
WNT8B protein expression was analyzed in 82 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissue samples through im3.1
Our results showed that high WNT8B expression was an independent prognostic factor for poor NPC patient survival, with a relative risk of death of 1.744 (95% confidence interval: 1.005–3.025, p-value = 0.048), among another established prognostic risk factor, systemic metastasis (p < 0.001)

Summary

Introduction

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a primary malignancy arising from the epithelial cells of the nasopharynx. NPC treatment is usually initiated by radiation, which is effective at the early stage [8]. In advanced NPC, radiotherapy alone is not effective; concurrent chemotherapy is usually applied to improve patient outcomes [9]. Members of the Wnt signaling pathway have been shown to play a role in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) progression. WNT8B protein expression in NPC patients using tissue microarray (TMA) analysis and to evaluate its correlation with patient survival and clinical parameters. Methods: A total of 82 NPC cases, together with six normal nasopharyngeal tissue samples, were targeted to construct the TMA blocks. The WNT8B protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and its correlation to the clinicopathological features was investigated. The univariate analysis revealed that systemic metastasis was associated with patient 5-year survival

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