Upregulated polo-like kinase 1 expression correlates with inferior survival outcomes in rectal cancer

T. G. Tut, S. H. S. Lim, I. U. Dissanayake, J. Descallar, W. Chua, W. Ng, P. de Souza, J-S. Shin, C. S. Lee

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    46 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: Human polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) expression has been associated with inferior outcomes in colorectal cancer. Our aims were to analyse PLK1 in rectal cancer, and its association with clinicopathological variables, overall survival as well as tumour regression to neoadjuvant treatment. Methods: PLK1 expression was quantified with immunohistochemistry in the centre and periphery (invasive front) of rectal cancers, as well as in the involved regional lymph nodes from 286 patients. Scores were based on staining intensity and percentage of positive cells, multiplied to give weighted scores from 1-12, dichotomised into low (0-5) or high (6-12). Results: PLK1 scores in the tumour periphery were significantly different to adjacent normal mucosa. Survival analysis revealed that low PLK1 score in the tumour periphery had a hazard ratio of death of 0.59 in multivariate analysis. Other predictors of survival included age, tumour depth, metastatic status, vascular and perineural invasion and adjuvant chemotherapy. There was no statistically significant correlation between PLK1 score and histological tumour regression in the neoadjuvant cohort. Conclusion: Low PLK1 score was an independent predictor of superior overall survival, adjusting for multiple clinicopathological variables including treatment.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbere0129313
    Number of pages11
    JournalPLoS One
    Volume10
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015

    Open Access - Access Right Statement

    Copyright: © 2015 Tut et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

    Keywords

    • antineoplastic agent
    • cancer cells
    • cancer survival
    • carcinogenesis
    • rectum cancer
    • tumor marker

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