OncoTargets and Therapy (Jan 2016)

Expression of MECOM is associated with unfavorable prognosis in glioblastoma multiforme

  • Hou AW,
  • Zhao LZ,
  • Zhao FZ,
  • Wang WL,
  • Niu JY,
  • Li BX,
  • Zhou ZJ,
  • Zhu DY

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2016, no. Issue 1
pp. 315 – 320

Abstract

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Aiwu Hou,1,* Lizhen Zhao,1,* Fuzhen Zhao,2 Weiliang Wang,3 Jianyi Niu,1 Bingxuan Li,1 Zhongjin Zhou,1 Dongyuan Zhu4 1Department of Neurology, Yidu Central Hospital of Weifang City, 2Department of Orthopedics, People’s Hospital of Qingzhou City, 3Department of Psychiatrics, People’s Third Hospital of Weifang City, Weifang, 4Department of Medical Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: MDS1 and EVI1 complex locus protein EVI1 (MECOM) is an oncogenic transcription factor in several kinds of cancers. However, the clinical significance of MECOM in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) has not been well elucidated.Patients and methods: Our study enrolled 86 resected samples of GBM in three medical centers. We detected the expression of MECOM in all the 86 samples by immunohistochemistry and compared the difference of MECOM mRNA between tumor tissues and adjacent tissues with real-time polymerase chain reaction. With immunoblotting, we detected the MECOM expression in different GBM cell lines. Moreover, we analyzed the correlation between MECOM expression and clinicopathologic factors with chi-square test, and evaluated the prognostic value of MECOM with univariate and multivariate analysis.Results: In GBM tissue, the percentage of MECOM high expression is 41.9% (36/86). The mRNA of MECOM in tumor tissues is remarkably higher than that in adjacent tissues, indicating the oncogenic role of MECOM in GBM. MECOM exists in all the detected cell lines with different abundance. Moreover, MECOM is correlated with poorer overall survival rate (P=0.033) and can be identified as an independent prognostic factor in GBM (P=0.042).Conclusion: MECOM could be considered as an independent prognostic factor in GBM, predicting it as a potential and promising molecular drug target. Keywords: MECOM, glioblastoma multiforme, progression, prognosis 

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