BACKGROUND: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a highly aggressive tumour with poor prognosis and limited response to therapy. New markers for the prediction of prognosis in MM and in pulmonary adenocarcinoma of the pleura are valuable. GATA-6 belongs to a six member zinc finger transcription factor family named after their recognition motif W-GATA-R. AIM: To clarify the distribution and possible function of GATA-6 transcription factor in MM and in pleural metastasis of lung adenocarcinomas. METHODS: 63 pleural MM and 36 pleural metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinomas were studied for GATA-6 expression by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarrays. Expression of GATA-6 was examined in relation to thyroid transcription factor-1 expression, survival, proliferation and apoptosis. RESULTS: Nuclear immunoreactivity for GATA-6 was stronger and more frequent in MM than in metastatic pleural adenocarcinoma. Prognosis was better in patients with GATA-6 expression when compared to those with no GATA-6 expression (p = 0.002); in the subgroup analysis the difference was significant in epithelial and sarcomatous mesothelioma. GATA-6 was not associated with spontaneous proliferation or apoptosis of the tumour cells in situ. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that GATA-6 plays a role in pleural malignancies, predicting longer survival in subgroups of MM.
BACKGROUND:Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a highly aggressive tumour with poor prognosis and limited response to therapy. New markers for the prediction of prognosis in MM and in pulmonary adenocarcinoma of the pleura are valuable. GATA-6 belongs to a six member zinc finger transcription factor family named after their recognition motif W-GATA-R. AIM: To clarify the distribution and possible function of GATA-6 transcription factor in MM and in pleural metastasis of lung adenocarcinomas. METHODS: 63 pleural MM and 36 pleural metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinomas were studied for GATA-6 expression by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarrays. Expression of GATA-6 was examined in relation to thyroid transcription factor-1 expression, survival, proliferation and apoptosis. RESULTS: Nuclear immunoreactivity for GATA-6 was stronger and more frequent in MM than in metastatic pleural adenocarcinoma. Prognosis was better in patients with GATA-6 expression when compared to those with no GATA-6 expression (p = 0.002); in the subgroup analysis the difference was significant in epithelial and sarcomatous mesothelioma. GATA-6 was not associated with spontaneous proliferation or apoptosis of the tumour cells in situ. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that GATA-6 plays a role in pleural malignancies, predicting longer survival in subgroups of MM.
Authors: William K C Cheung; Minghui Zhao; Zongzhi Liu; Laura E Stevens; Paul D Cao; Justin E Fang; Thomas F Westbrook; Don X Nguyen Journal: Cancer Cell Date: 2013-05-23 Impact factor: 31.743