Elevated Expression of Maspin mRNA as a Predictor of Survival in Stage II and III Gallbladder Cancer Cases

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Maspin expression is a potential prognostic factor for various malignancies but its relation withgallbladder cancer is unknown and needs to be investigated needs to be investigated. We therefore here focusedon maspin mRNA expression in normal, gall stone disease and gallbladder cancer subjects, with particularattention to prognostic importance in individuals with malignancies. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: This study wascarried out at the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India.Gallbladder samples from normal (n=25), gall stone disease (n=25) and cancer patients (n=38) were analysedfor maspin mRNA expression by semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR and quantitative real timePCR. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Students t test or ANOVA. Survival analysis was conductedaccording to the Kaplan-Meier method and correlations were assessed using the Pearson correlation method.p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. <br/><b>Results</b>: Significant increase (p=0.028) in expression of maspinmRNA was observed in gallbladder cancer as compared to gall stone disease, whereas no expression was found innormal tissues. Significant correlation (Pearson’s coefficient(r)=-0.798, p<0.0001) was observed between relativequantification of maspin mRNA and survival of cancer patients after surgery, with significantly shorter (p=0.002)survival in patients having relative quantification >1.5 as compared to those having relative quantification <1.5.Similarly, significant differences in patient survival for maspin mRNA expression was observed for stage II(p=0.025) and III (p=0.011) cancer. <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: Higher expression of maspin mRNA in gallbladder cancer hasprognostic significance for stage II and III cancer, which needs to be investigated further.