angiogenin and Nasopharyngeal-Neoplasms

Further studies based on large series are necessary to investigate the role of MASPIN and angiogenin (ANG) in angiogenetic mechanisms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and their potential as prognostic markers.. NPC is a malignancy with an incidence among Caucasians of < 1 per 100 000 per year. In NPC, the aberrations of many pathways and the alteration in expression of several proteins have been reported. Tumor angiogenesis is the result of an imbalance between pro- and anti-angiogenic factors. MASPIN exerts several anti-tumor effects including inhibition of tumor-induced angiogenesis. ANG regulates angiogenesis under both physiological and pathological conditions supporting primary and metastatic tumor growth.. For the first time, we preliminarily investigated by immunohistochemistry the subcellular localization and expression of MASPIN, and the expression of ANG (in both carcinoma cells and intra-tumor vessels) and Ki-67 in 15 Caucasian patients with NPC treated with the same chemo-radiotherapeutic protocol.. MASPIN-positive NPCs had a prevalent cytoplasmic localization pattern. A trend towards significant direct correlation between MASPIN presence and disease-free survival (DFS) (p = 0.08) and a trend towards significant inverse correlation between ANG expression and DFS (p = 0.07) were found. An association between MASPIN presence and lower ANG expression in carcinoma cells was disclosed (statistical trend, p = 0.10).

Topics: Adult; Carcinoma; Female; Humans; Ki-67 Antigen; Male; Middle Aged; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; Prognosis; Ribonuclease, Pancreatic; Serpins; Treatment Outcome

To determine the serum angiogenin (ANG) concentration in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and analyze its clinical significance.. Forty-two NPC patients and 30 healthy controls entered this study. Serum ANG level was quantitatively analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).. The mean level of serum ANG in untreated NPC was (371.4 +/- 123.5) microg/L, which was significantly higher than that in healthy controls(292.5 +/- 74.2) microg/L (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the serum level of ANG increased with the development of tumor (P < 0.05). After treatment, all patients reached a response: partial response (PR) or complete response (PR), and the serum ANG level was (340.6 +/- 112.4) microg/L, which was significantly lower than that in untreated ones (P < 0.05), but still higher than that in healthy controls (P < 0.05).. Our results indicate that the serum ANG level increases in patients with NPC, and is correlate with primary tumor progression.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Case-Control Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms; Neoplasm Staging; Prognosis; Ribonuclease, Pancreatic