gms | German Medical Science

Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der Deutschen, Österreichischen und Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Thoraxchirurgie

24.-26.10.2013, Basel, Schweiz

Cortactin expression and the prognosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma

Meeting Abstract

  • A. E. Frick - Thoraxchirurgie, Otto Wagner Spital, Wien
  • B. J. Jank - Thoraxchirurgie, Otto Wagner Spital, Wien
  • F. Posch - Thoraxchirurgie, Otto Wagner Spital, Wien
  • E. Stubenberger - Thoraxchirurgie, Otto Wagner Spital, Wien
  • M. Hochmair - I. Pulmologische Abteilung, Otto Wagner Spital, Wien
  • M. R. Müller - Thoraxchirurgie, Otto Wagner Spital, Wien
  • S. B. Watzka - Thoraxchirurgie, Otto Wagner Spital, Wien
  • S. Brandau - HNO, Universitätsklinik Essen, Essen
  • M. Tötsch - Zytologie, Universitätsklinik Graz, Graz

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Thoraxchirurgie. Österreichische Gesellschaft für Thoraxchirurgie. Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Thoraxchirurgie. Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der Deutschen, Österreichischen und Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Thoraxchirurgie. Basel, Schweiz, 24.-26.10.2013. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2013. DocS7.3

doi: 10.3205/13dgt059, urn:nbn:de:0183-13dgt0591

Veröffentlicht: 14. Oktober 2013

© 2013 Frick et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open Access-Artikel und steht unter den Creative Commons Lizenzbedingungen (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.de). Er darf vervielfältigt, verbreitet und öffentlich zugänglich gemacht werden, vorausgesetzt dass Autor und Quelle genannt werden.


Gliederung

Text

Objective: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a fatal neoplastic disease originating from the mesothelium of the pleura and strongly associated with asbestos. Despite multidisciplinary treatment options, prognosis of MPM remains poor. Therefore, the identification of specific molecular targets is highly desirable. Cortical Actin binding protein (Cortactin) is a monomeric protein binding actin filament, with a central role in restructuring the cytoskeleton. Recent studies report that Cortactin is overexpressed in many types of human cancers. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between Cortactin expression and clinicopathological parameters and survival time in patients with MPM.

Methods: This study included 80 MPM patients (60 male; 20 female) with a median age of 60 years at diagnosis; 48% had an epitheloid subtype. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens (n=74) were stained for the presence of Cortactin using standard immunohistochemical procedures. The clinicopathological parameters were correlated to the Cortactin staining. Subsequently, the prognostic potential of cortactin to predict overall survival was evaluated.

Results: Specific staining for Cortactin in the tumor epithelium and in the adjacent tumor stroma revealed that 100% of tumor epithelial cells stained positive for Cortactin (27% intermediate intensity, 73% high intensity), in contrast to only 88% of tumor stroma (45% low intensity, 35% intermediate intensity, 8% high intensity). Further assessment of the distribution pattern (uniformly vs. patchy) showed that 92% of tumor epithelial cells (n=74) were uniformly stained, while only 28% of tumor stromata (n=65) had a uniform staining pattern. Survival analysis showed that patients with a patchy Cortactin staining pattern had a significantly shorter survival than patient with uniform staining Cortactin staining pattern had a significantly shorter survival than patient with uniform staining (hazard ratio 7.11 95% [CI] 2.54–19-89; p<0.001).

Conclusion: We showed for the first time that Cortactin is expressed in MPM, and that the patchy pattern of Cortactin expression is significantly associated with shorter MPM survival. Our data suggest that Cortactin expression could have prognostic relevance in MPM. Further in-depth evaluations in larger cohorts are required to confirm this promising initial finding.