Downregulation of AP-1 repressor JDP2 is associated with tumor metastasis and poor prognosis in patients with pancreatic carcinoma.

Pancreatic carcinoma is one of the most malignant and aggressive cancers. The identification of prognostic factors is thought to be useful in directing treatment. Transcription factor Jun dimerization protein 2 (JDP2), a member of the activator protein 1 (AP-1) family, acts as an AP-1 inhibitor and has been implicated in many cellular processes including carcinogenesis. The role of JDP2 in the development of pancreatic carcinoma, however, remained elusive. In this study we examined the expression levels of JDP2 in 36 pancreatic carcinoma samples by Western blotting and found that JDP2 expression was significantly downregulated in pancreatic carcinoma samples compared with peritumoral tissues. The decrease in JDP2 expression was correlated with lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis and strongly associated with the post-surgery survival time. These results indicate a possible connection between JDP2 expression and metastasis in pancreatic carcinoma and suggest that JDP2 can serve as a biomarker to predict the prognosis of patients with this cancer.