Nuclear expression of Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta and lack of membranous beta-catenin is correlated with poor survival in colon cancer

作者：Salim Tavga; Sjolander Anita; Sand Dejmek Janna^*

来源：International Journal of Cancer, 2013, 133(4): 807-815.

DOI：10.1002/ijc.28074

• GSK-3 beta
• beta-catenin
• colon cancer
• metastasis
• survival

Dysregulation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is a hallmark of colon cancer. Glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3 beta) can be a positive regulator of survival and proliferation of cultured colon cancer cell but its role in clinical colon cancer is unknown. Our objectives were to evaluate the role of GSK-3 beta in colon cancer. A tumor tissue microarray of primary colon cancers and metastases was used to evaluate expression and subcellular localization of GSK-3 beta and beta-catenin. In total, 85 primary colon cancer samples were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Immunoreactivity was correlated to known markers of adverse prognosis. Overall survival was the primary end-point. We found nuclear accumulation of GSK-3 beta in 39% (33/85) of evaluated tumors. Nuclear GSK-3 beta was significantly associated with shorter overall survival (p=0.008), larger tumor size (p=0.015), distant metastasis (p=0.029) and loss of membranous beta-catenin (p=0.007). Loss of membranous beta-catenin occurred in 37% (30/82) of the tumors and was associated with poor survival (p=0.016). The combination of nuclear GSK-3 beta and lack of membrane beta-catenin occurred in a total of 26% of the studied tumors (21/61) and was significantly and independently associated with poor prognosis. Our results suggest that nuclear expression of GSK-3 beta and loss of membrane beta-catenin identify a subset of colon carcinomas with worse prognosis.

• 出版日期2013-8-15