FOXO3a expression and its diagnostic value in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

FOXO3a (FKHRL1) is an important regulator of cell apoptosis, proliferation, metabolic state and longevity. FOXO3a expression can be measured and has been regarded as a tumor suppressor factor in many cancers. However, the expression and role of FOXO3a in PDAC have not been defined. We evaluated the expression of FOXO3a in PDAC and the relationship of its expression with clinicopathological features and patient outcomes. We found that compared with normal tissues, the expression of FOXO3a was significantly higher in tumor tissues (P<0.001). FOXO3a expression correlates significantly with tumor differentiation and with the primary location of the tumor (P<0.001 and P=0.005, respectively). In a univariate analysis, we found that FOXO3a expression has a strong relationship with survival (P=0.013). In addition, Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that a low expression of FOXO3a in tumor tissues has a significantly shorter OS compared with patients with high expression of FOXO3a (P=0.013). In conclusion, the expression of FOXO3a is significantly higher in PDAC compared with normal pancreatic tissues and has a low expression or negative staining in poorly differentiated PDAC, which seems to indicate that FOXO3a expression in tumor tissues may be related to the pathological progression stage and may be used as a diagnostic indicator with early tumors.