Objective: To investigate the expression and its clinical significance of Trop-2 in human pancreatic cancer.
Methods: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunofluorescence assay were used to characterize the expression of Trop-2 in human pancreatic cancer. The expression of Trop-2 protein in 31 tumor tissue samples, including peritumoral tissue from patients with pancreatic cancer, was detected with immunohistochemistry by tissue microarray. The clinicopathological characteristics and the tissue expression of Trop-2 protein were analyzed statistically.
Results: RT-PCR, immunofluorescence assay and immunohistochemistry by tissue microarray showed a high expression of Trop-2 in pancreatic cancer. The expression rate of Trop-2 was much higher in pancreatic cancer than that in peritumoral tissues (87.1% vs 9.7%). And a high expression of Trop-2 in pancreatic cancer was correlated with the low-differentiated changes. It had statistical significance (P < 0.05). In contrast, no statistically significant correlation was found between the expression of Trop-2 and gender or age.
Conclusion: The expression of Trop-2 is correlated with the development and malignancy of pancreatic cancer. As a clinical prognostic marker, Trop-2 may be a potential therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer.