Nectin-4 expression contributes to tumor proliferation,angiogenesis and patient prognosis in human pancreatic cancer

Background: nectin-4 belongs to the nectin family that has diverse physiological and pathological functions in humans. recent studies have also suggested some roles for nectin-4 in several human cancers. however,the precise roles and clinical relevance of nectin-4 in tumors are largely unknown. methods: nectin-4 expression was investigated in 123 patients with pancreatic cancer by immunohistochemistry. furthermore,we investigated the association of nectin-4 in pancreatic cancer with tumor proliferation,angiogenesis and immunity by using immunohistochemistry and sirna interference method. results: patients with high nectin-4 expression had poorer postoperative prognosis than those with low expression. importantly,multivariate analysis indicated that nectin-4 expression had a significant independent prognostic value in pancreatic cancer (hr∈=∈1.721,1.085-2.730; p∈=∈0.021). tumor nectin-4 expression was significantly correlated with ki67 expression. in addition,sirna-mediated gene silencing of nectin-4 significantly inhibited the cell proliferation in human pancreatic cancer cells,capan-2 and bxpc-3. furthermore,nectin-4 expression was also positively correlated with vegf expression and intratumoral microvessel density. however,there were no significant correlations of tumor nectin-4 expression with tumor-infiltrating t cells. conclusion: nectin-4 is a significant prognostic predictor,and may play a critical role in pancreatic cancer. nectin-4 may be novel therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer. © 2015 nishiwada et al.; licensee biomed central.