Paper from a research group in i3S wins the first edition of Prémio Cancro Gástrico IPO do Porto

The paper entitled "A panel of intestinal differentiation markers (CDX2, GPA33, and LI‑cadherin) identifies gastric cancer patients with favourable prognosis" from the Differentiation & Cancer group at i3S has won the first edition of "Prémio Cancro Gástrico IPO do Porto", an award for the best article in gastric cancer research published in the past 2 years assigned by IPO Porto. The award ceremony will take place at IPO Porto on May 31^st, 2021. Using fluorescence-based multiplex immunohistochemistry together with digital image analysis and chromogenic immunohistochemistry, the authors described an intestinal differentiation panel in gastric cancer comprised of CDX2, GPA33 and LI-cadherin and observed that low or negative protein expression of the intestinal differentiation panel identified gastric cancer patients with particularly poor overall survival. 

Authors and Affiliations:

Nair Lopes^1,2,3,4,11, Christian Bergsland^3,4, Jarle Bruun^3,4, Merete Bjørnslett^3,4, André Filipe Vieira^1,2, Patrícia Mesquita^1,2, Rita Pinto^1,5,12, Rosa Gomes^6,7, Bruno Cavadas^1,2, Eric Bennett⁵, Luisa Pereira^1,2, Ragnhild A. Lothe^3,4,8, Raquel Almeida^1,2,9,10, Leonor David^1,2,9

1 – IPATIMUP (Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto), Rua Júlio Amaral de Carvalho, 45, 4200‑135 Porto, Portugal

2 – i3S (Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde), University of Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 208, 4200‑135 Porto, Portugal

3 – Department of Molecular Oncology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Nydalen, P.O. Box 4953, 0424 Oslo, Norway

4 – K.G. Jebsen Colorectal Cancer Research Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Nydalen, P.O. Box 4953, 0424 Oslo, Norway

5 – Departments of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Odontology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Copenhagen Center for Glycomics, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark

6 – Oncology Department, Centro Hospitalar de Trás-Os-Montes E Alto Douro, Avenida da Noruega, Lordelo, 5000‑508 Vila Real, Portugal

7 – Oncology Department, Centro Hospitalar de S. João, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200‑319 Porto, Portugal

8 – Institute for Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Blindern, P.O. Box 1171, 0318 Oslo, Norway

9 – Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200‑319 Porto, Portugal

10 – Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Do Campo Alegre, s/n, 4169‑007 Porto,Portugal

11 – Present Address: Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Centre of Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (GEBC CI-IPOP), Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200‑072 Porto, Portugal

12 – Present Address: Department of Molecular Oncology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital, Nydalen, P.O. Box 4953, 0424 Oslo, Norway

Abstract: Gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the third cause of global cancer mortality. CDX2 is an intestinal differentiation marker with prognostic value in gastric cancer and transcriptionally regulates the expression of glycoprotein A33 (GPA33) and liver intestine cadherin (LI-cadherin). This study evaluated the clinical significance of the combined expression of CDX2 and its targets GPA33 and LI-cadherin in gastric cancer by fluorescence-based multiplex immunohistochemistry together with digital image analysis and chromogenic immunohistochemistry in 329 gastric cancer samples arranged in tissue microarrays. Additionally, publicly available RNA-seq expression data from 354 gastric cancer samples from the TCGA database were used to validate the immunohistochemistry results. Expression of the three markers (CDX2, GPA33, and LI-cadherin) was strongly correlated, defining an intestinal differentiation panel. Low or negative protein expression of the intestinal differentiation panel identified patients with particularly poor overall survival, irrespective of the methodology used, and was validated in the independent series at the RNA-seq level. Expression of the intestinal differentiation panel (CDX2, GPA33, and LI-cadherin) defines a set of biomarkers with a strong biological rationale and favourable impact for prognostication of gastric cancer patients.

Journal: Gastric Cancer

Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10120-020-01064-6