Brief Article
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 28, 2012; 18(8): 840-846
Published online Feb 28, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i8.840
Expression of fibroblast activation protein in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma and its clinicopathological significance
Min Shi, Dang-Hui Yu, Ying Chen, Chen-Yan Zhao, Jing Zhang, Qing-Hua Liu, Can-Rong Ni, Ming-Hua Zhu
Min Shi, Dang-Hui Yu, Ying Chen, Chen-Yan Zhao, Jing Zhang, Qing-Hua Liu, Can-Rong Ni, Ming-Hua Zhu, Department of Pathology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
Author contributions: Shi M, Chen Y, Zhao CY, Zhang J, Liu QH and Ni CR designed, performed the research and analyzed the data; Zhu MH designed the research and analyzed the data; and Yu DH wrote the paper.
Supported by The National Key Project of Scientific and Technical Supporting Programs of China, No. 2006BAI02A14; and National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30770996 and No. 81172310
Correspondence to: Ming-Hua Zhu, Professor, Department of Pathology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, No. 168 of Changhai Road, Shanghai 200433, China. mhzhu2000@hotmail.com
Telephone: +86-21-81873700 Fax: +86-21-81873700
Received: April 14, 2011
Revised: September 1, 2011
Accepted: October 28, 2011
Published online: February 28, 2012
Abstract

AIM: To examine fibroblast activation protein (FAP) expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and to analyze its relationship with the clinicopathology of PDAC.

METHODS: FAP expression was examined in 134 PDAC specimens by immunohistochemistry, and in four pancreatic cancer cell lines (SW1990, Miapaca-2, AsPC-1 and BxPC-3) by Western blotting assay. We also analyzed the association between FAP expression in PDAC cells and the clinicopathology of PDAC patients.

RESULTS: The results showed that the FAP was ex-pressed in both stromal fibroblast cells (98/134, 73.1%) and carcinoma cells (102/134, 76.1%). All 4 pancreatic cancer cell lines expressed FAP protein at different levels. Protein bands corresponding to the proteolytically active 170-kDa seprase dimer and its 88-kDa seprase subunit were identified. Higher FAP expression in carcinoma cells was associated with tumor size (P < 0.001), fibrotic focus (P = 0.003), perineural invasion (P = 0.009) and worse clinical outcome (P = 0.0085).

CONCLUSION: FAP is highly expressed in carcinoma cells and fibroblasts in PDAC tissues, and its expression is associated with desmoplasia and worse prognosis.

Keywords: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; Cancer-associated fibroblasts; Fibroblast activation protein; Prognosis