Cancers, Vol. 11, Pages 1590: EP4 and Class III β-Tubulin Expression in Uterine Smooth Muscle Tumors: Implications for Prognosis and Treatment

Cancers, Vol. 11, Pages 1590: EP4 and Class III β-Tubulin Expression in Uterine Smooth Muscle Tumors: Implications for Prognosis and Treatment Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers11101590 Authors: Jocelyn Reader Amy K. Harper Teklu Legesse Paul N. Staats Olga Goloubeva Gautam G. Rao Amy Fulton Dana M. Roque The microtubule-stabilizing agent docetaxel in combination with gemcitabine represents one of the most effective regimens against the aggressive gynecologic tumor leiomyosarcoma (LMS). Upregulation of class III β-tubulin has previously been shown to confer taxane resistance in a variety of human cancers. Prostaglandin E2 receptor EP4 is linked to progression of a variety of human cancers and may represent a novel target for tumor inhibition in LMS. We evaluated the hypotheses that EP4 and class III β-tubulin have increased expression in LMS in comparison to normal myometrium or benign tumors and that expression of class III β-tubulin correlates with resistance to taxanes and poor clinical outcome. Gene expression was examined using TCGA data and correlated with clinicopathologic outcome which demonstrated that class III β-tubulin is more highly expressed in more aggressive sarcomas with EP4 being widely expressed in all subtypes of sarcoma. Immunohistochemistry for EP4 and class III β-tubulin was performed on patients with LMS, leiomyomatosis/STUMP, leiomyoma, and normal myometrium. Expression ...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research