J Gastric Cancer.  2017 Sep;17(3):228-236. 10.5230/jgc.2017.17.e28.

Overexpression of Neuron-Specific Enolase as a Prognostic Factor in Patients with Gastric Cancer

• Park T
• Lee YJ
• Jeong SH
• Choi SK
• Jung EJ
• Ju YT
• Jeong CY
• Park M
• Hah YS
• Yoo J
• Ha WS
• Hong SC
• Ko GH

• KMID: 2389827
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5230/jgc.2017.17.e28

Abstract

PURPOSE
Enolase is a cytoplasmic enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of 2-phosphoglycerate to phosphoenolpyruvate in the glycolytic pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the overexpression of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) can serve as a prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer (GC).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
To assess its prognostic value in GC, NSE expression was measured by immunohistochemistry in a clinically annotated tissue microarray comprising of 327 human GC specimens. Cytoplasmic NSE expression was scored from 0 to 4, reflecting the percentage of NSE-positive cells.
RESULTS
In terms of histology as per the World Health Organization criteria (P=0.340), there were no differences between the NSE overexpression (NSE-OE) and NSE underexpression (NSE-UE) groups. The NSE-OE group showed a significantly lower rate of advanced GC (P<0.010), lymph node metastasis (P=0.010), advanced stage group (P<0.010), cancer-related death (P<0.010), and cancer recurrence (P<0.010). Additionally, a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the NSE-OE group had longer cumulative survival times than the NSE-UE group (log-rank test, P<0.010). However, there were no significant differences in the serum levels of NSE expression in patients with GC and healthy volunteers (P=0.280).
CONCLUSIONS
Patients with NSE overexpressing GC tissues showed better prognostic results, implying that NSE could be a candidate biomarker of GC.

Keyword

Stomach neoplasms; Neuron-specific enolase; Neoplasm metastasis; Prognosis

MeSH Terms

Cytoplasm
Healthy Volunteers
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Lymph Nodes
Neoplasm Metastasis
Phosphoenolpyruvate
Phosphopyruvate Hydratase*
Prognosis
Recurrence
Stomach Neoplasms*
World Health Organization
Phosphoenolpyruvate
Phosphopyruvate Hydratase

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Immunohistochemical analysis of NSE expression in GC tissues. NSE = neuron-specific enolase; GC = gastric cancer.

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  Fig. 2 Patients with NSE-OE show longer survival times than patients with NSE-UE according to Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. NSE-OE = neuron-specific enolase overexpression; NSE-UE = neuron-specific enolase underexpression.

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  Fig. 3 Western blot staining to evaluate the NSE level in fresh frozen tumor tissues at each of the TNM stages I to IV. NSE = neuron-specific enolase; TNM = tumor, node, and metastasis; GAPDH = glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.

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  Fig. 4 Comparison of quantified serum NSE levels. NSE = neuron-specific enolase; GC = gastric cancer.

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