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Expression level of NUAK1 in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its prognostic significance

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Abstract

Background

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is notable for its high incidence rates in select geographic and ethnic populations, especially among Chinese and Malay populations in Southeastern Asia. However, relevant biomarkers for the development and prognosis of NPC are not yet clear; therefore, discovering novel biomarkers will facilitate prediction of prognosis and development of targeted therapeutic tactics. This study aims to quest the potential prognostic value of NUAK1 (a downstream member of Akt) in NPC.

Methods

Immunohistochemistry was performed to measure the expression of NUAK1 in paraffin-embedded NPC samples. Statistical analysis, encompassing chi-square tests and Student’s t test, was also employed to evaluate the association between the expression of NUAK1 and clinicopathologic features. In addition, the survival analysis was used to detect the prognostic significance of NUAK1 in NPC.

Results

Excessive expression of NUAK1 was found in NPC tissues at mRNA levels. Statistical analysis revealed a correlation of NUAK1 expression with maximum neck lymph node diameter (p = 0.025) and WHO histological type (p = 0.021). Furthermore, according to survival analysis, there was clinical relevance between the upregulation of NUAK1 in NPC and DFS. Subgroup analysis indicated that the expression of NUAK1 was strongly associated with DFS (p = 0.027) and OS (p = 0.026) duration in the patients of N1–3 tumors, but not in patients with N0 tumors. The expression of NUAK1 was also strongly associated with OS (p = 0.044) and DFS (p = 0.007) in patients of late stage tumour (UICC3–5), but not in patients of early stage tumour (UICC1–2). In addition, COX regression illustrated that N classification and NUAK1 expression were independent prognostic factors for disease-free survival.

Conclusion

Our study postulated that NUAK1 is excessively expressed in NPC and may serve as a potential predictor of prognosis for NPC.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81672661), the Guangdong Province Natural Science Foundation (2015A030310126).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, No. 1 Kangda Road, Guangzhou, 510230, Guangdong, China

    Jiaoyang Liu, Guoyan Tang & Lihua Xu

  2. General Surgery Department, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    He Huang

  3. Breast Cancer Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Huan Li & Peng Zhang

  4. Guangdong Key Laboratory of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    Lihua Xu

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  1. Jiaoyang Liu
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  2. Guoyan Tang
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Correspondence to Lihua Xu.

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Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the ethics committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. And each patient had given a written informed consent about the use of the samples for medical research.

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Liu, J., Tang, G., Huang, H. et al. Expression level of NUAK1 in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its prognostic significance. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 275, 2563–2573 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-018-5095-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-018-5095-0

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