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. 2018 Jan;35(1):1-9.
doi: 10.1007/s10014-017-0300-1. Epub 2017 Sep 8.

Tissue microarray analysis for epithelial membrane protein-2 as a novel biomarker for gliomas

Lawrance K Chung  1 , Panayiotis E Pelargos  1 , Ann M Chan  2 , Joanna V Demos  1 , Carlito Lagman  1 , John P Sheppard  1 , Thien Nguyen  1 , Yu-Ling Chang  2 , Seyed A Hojat  2 , Robert M Prins  1 , Linda M Liau  1   3 , Leia Nghiemphu  4 , Albert Lai  4 , Timothy F Cloughesy  4 , William H Yong  2 , Lynn K Gordon  5 , Madhuri Wadehra  2   3 , Isaac Yang  6   7
Affiliations

Tissue microarray analysis for epithelial membrane protein-2 as a novel biomarker for gliomas

Lawrance K Chung et al. Brain Tumor Pathol. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Epithelial membrane protein-2 (EMP2) expression is noted in many human cancers. We evaluated EMP2 as a biomarker in gliomas. A large tissue microarray of lower grade glioma (WHO grades II-III, n = 19 patients) and glioblastoma (GBM) (WHO grade IV, n = 50 patients) was stained for EMP2. EMP2 expression was dichotomized to low or high expression scores and correlated with clinical data. The mean EMP2 expression was 1.68 in lower grade gliomas versus 2.20 in GBMs (P = 0.01). The percentage of samples with high EMP2 expression was greater in GBMs than lower grade gliomas (90.0 vs. 52.6%, P = 0.001). No significant difference was found between median survival among patients with GBM tumors exhibiting high EMP2 expression and survival of those with low EMP2 expression (8.38 vs. 10.98 months, P = 0.39). However, EMP2 expression ≥2 correlated with decreased survival (r = -0.39, P = 0.001). The EMP2 expression level also correlated with Ki-67 positivity (r = 0.34, P = 0.008). The mortality hazard ratio for GBM patients with EMP2 score of 3 or higher was 1.92 (CI 0.69-5.30). Our findings suggest that elevated EMP2 expression is associated with GBM. With other biomarkers, EMP2 may have use as a molecular target for the diagnosis and treatment of gliomas.

Keywords: Biomarker; Epithelial membrane protein-2; Glioblastoma; Glioma; Prognosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest MW. and L.K.G. are inventors on the University of California patents related to EMP2 as a target for antibody therapy. They are also the founders of Paganini Biopharma. The remaining authors have no personal or institutional financial interest in drugs, materials, or devices described in this study.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Representative photomicrographs (×10 objective) of EMP2 immunohistochemical staining showing expression scores of 1+ (a, d), 2+ (b, e), and 3+ (c, f) in lower grade gliomas and GBMs, respectively. All photographs were taken at the same exposure settings
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Average EMP2 expression score of lower grade glioma versus GBM with corresponding 95% confidence interval error bars. Mann-Whitney U test demonstrated a significant difference between the EMP2 expression scores in lower grade glioma and GBM (P = 0.01)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Overall survival in GBM patients expressing low versus high EMP2 expression. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve showing overall survival in patients with EMP2 expression of ≤2 (gray) and EMP2 expression of 3 (black). Log-rank analysis did not demonstrate a significant difference between GBM samples with low EMP2 expression against those with high EMP2 expression (P = 0.74)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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