Postoperative Prognostic Predictors of Bile Duct Cancers: Clinical Analysis and Immunoassays of Tissue Microarrays

• Published in: Gut and liver 2023-01, Vol.17 (1), p.159
• Main Authors: Hwe Hoon Chung, Seung Hee Seo, Hyemin Kim, Yuil Kim, Dong Wuk Kim, Kwang Hyuck Lee, Kyu Taek Lee, Jin Seok Heo, In Woong Han, Seon Mee Park, Kee-taek Jang, Jong Kyun Lee, Joo Kyung Park
• Format: Article
• Language: Korean
• Subjects: Cholangiocarcinoma; Immunohistochemistry; Microarray; Prognosis
• ISSN: 1976-2283

Background/Aims: Cholangiocarcinoma frequently recurs even after curative resection. Expression levels of proteins such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Snail, epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) examined by immunohistochemistry have been studied as potential prognostic factors for cholangiocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to investigate significant factors affecting the prognosis of resectable cholangiocarcinoma. Methods: Ninety-one patients who underwent surgical resection at Samsung Medical Center for cholangiocarcinoma from 1995 to 2013 were included in this study. Expression levels of E-cadherin, Snail, IL-6, membranous EGFR, and cytoplasmic EGFR were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarray blocks made from surgical specimens. Results: Patients with high levels of membranous EGFR in tissue microarrays had significantly shorter overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS): high membranous EGFR (score 0-2) 38.0 months versus low membranous EGFR (score 3) 14.4 months (p=0.008) and high membranous EGFR (score 0-2) 23.2 months versus low membranous EGFR (score 3) 6.1 months (p=0.004), respectively. On the other hand, E-cadherin, Snail, cytoplasmic EGFR, and IL-6 did not show significant association with OS or DFS. Patients with distant metastasis had significantly higher IL-6 levels than those with locoregional recurrence (p=0.01). Conclusions: This study showed that overexpression of membranous EGFR was significantly associated with shorter OS and DFS in surgically resected bile duct cancer patients. In addition, higher IL-6 expression was a predictive marker for recurrence in cholangiocarcinoma patients with distant organ metastasis after surgical resection. (Gut Liver 2023;17:159-169)