Preservation of HUGL-1 expression as a favourable prognostic factor in pancreatic carcinoma

The expression of the human homologue of Drosophila tumour suppressor gene lgl (HUGL-1) in pancreatic cancer was retrospectively assessed in 97 patients with surgically treated pancreatic cancer in order to correlate the HUGL-1 profile with patients' survival.

Immunohistochemistry was performed on 4-μm-thick paraffin sections from representative tumour blocks using a standard protocol. The expression of HUGL-1 was evaluated semiquantitatively as negative (0), weak (1), medium (2) or strong (3). The results were correlated with clinicopathological parameters and with patients' survival, considering an observation period of 17 (mean) ± 16 (SD) months.

In normal and inflammatory tissue, a uniform and relatively strong staining was observed in ductal epithelium, ganglion cells and some acinar epithelia. The endocrine islets exhibited a weak positivity. Human pancreatic cancer revealed variable intensities of HUGL-1 expression. A total of 69 tumour specimens were classified as negative and 28 as positive. The HUGL-1 expression was not correlated with clinical variables (age, gender), staging or tumour grading. HUGL-1 positivity proved to be prognostically favourable (p=0.0241) conferring a higher survival rate, especially for patients who had survived more than 12 months. The presence of distant metastases (M1) at diagnosis had a weak significant influence on survival (p=0.0474). The other staging parameters (T, N, UICC stage), tumour grading and clinical variables (age, gender) gave no significant prognostic information. In a multivariate Cox model, only HUGL-1 expression passed the entry limits.

Preservation of HUGL-1 expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a good prognostic factor that contributes to a better overall survival.