Prognostic relevance of light chain 3 (LC3A) autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas.

AIMS: The microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3A) is an essential component of the autophagic vacuoles, forming a reliable marker of autophagic activity. In a previous study, the authors showed that LC3A immunohistochemistry renders three patterns of autophagic expression in breast ca...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Giatromanolaki, A, Koukourakis, M, Harris, A, Polychronidis, A, Gatter, K, Sivridis, E
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2010
_version_ 1797067540860502016
author Giatromanolaki, A
Koukourakis, M
Harris, A
Polychronidis, A
Gatter, K
Sivridis, E
author_facet Giatromanolaki, A
Koukourakis, M
Harris, A
Polychronidis, A
Gatter, K
Sivridis, E
author_sort Giatromanolaki, A
collection OXFORD
description AIMS: The microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3A) is an essential component of the autophagic vacuoles, forming a reliable marker of autophagic activity. In a previous study, the authors showed that LC3A immunohistochemistry renders three patterns of autophagic expression in breast carcinomas: diffuse cytoplasmic, perinuclear and 'stone-like' intracellular structures (SLS), each with a distinct prognostic relevance. METHODS: Tumour tissues from 155 patients with stage IIA-III colorectal adenocarcinomas, treated with surgery alone, were assessed immunohistochemically for LC3A. Median values were used as cut-off points to separate groups into low and high autophagic activity. Associations with prognosis and with lactate dehydrogenase-5 (LDH5) were sought. RESULTS: High SLS counts were associated with metastases and poor prognosis, while the prominence of the perinuclear pattern was linked to localised disease and good prognosis. The cytoplasmic pattern was irrelevant. Furthermore, patients with increased SLS numbers, but suppressed perinuclear expression, were associated with LDH5 overexpression and had an extremely poor prognosis (3-year survival 16.5%). The prognosis improved considerably when high SLS counts were accompanied by intense perinuclear expression (3-year survival 67%) and were optimal when SLS numbers dropped below median values, irrespective of perinuclear status (3-year survival 94-100%). Multivariate analysis showed that SLS and perinuclear patterns were independent predictors of death events. CONCLUSIONS: Perinuclear LC3A accumulation in colorectal tumour cells is a marker of good prognosis, presumably reflecting a basal autophagic activity. An abnormal or excessive autophagic response, as indicated by increased numbers of SLS, is linked to metastasis and poor prognosis.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T21:57:46Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:4d82bd13-0448-4c3e-b9dc-824a978253f4
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T21:57:46Z
publishDate 2010
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:4d82bd13-0448-4c3e-b9dc-824a978253f42022-03-26T15:55:59ZPrognostic relevance of light chain 3 (LC3A) autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:4d82bd13-0448-4c3e-b9dc-824a978253f4EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2010Giatromanolaki, AKoukourakis, MHarris, APolychronidis, AGatter, KSivridis, E AIMS: The microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3A) is an essential component of the autophagic vacuoles, forming a reliable marker of autophagic activity. In a previous study, the authors showed that LC3A immunohistochemistry renders three patterns of autophagic expression in breast carcinomas: diffuse cytoplasmic, perinuclear and 'stone-like' intracellular structures (SLS), each with a distinct prognostic relevance. METHODS: Tumour tissues from 155 patients with stage IIA-III colorectal adenocarcinomas, treated with surgery alone, were assessed immunohistochemically for LC3A. Median values were used as cut-off points to separate groups into low and high autophagic activity. Associations with prognosis and with lactate dehydrogenase-5 (LDH5) were sought. RESULTS: High SLS counts were associated with metastases and poor prognosis, while the prominence of the perinuclear pattern was linked to localised disease and good prognosis. The cytoplasmic pattern was irrelevant. Furthermore, patients with increased SLS numbers, but suppressed perinuclear expression, were associated with LDH5 overexpression and had an extremely poor prognosis (3-year survival 16.5%). The prognosis improved considerably when high SLS counts were accompanied by intense perinuclear expression (3-year survival 67%) and were optimal when SLS numbers dropped below median values, irrespective of perinuclear status (3-year survival 94-100%). Multivariate analysis showed that SLS and perinuclear patterns were independent predictors of death events. CONCLUSIONS: Perinuclear LC3A accumulation in colorectal tumour cells is a marker of good prognosis, presumably reflecting a basal autophagic activity. An abnormal or excessive autophagic response, as indicated by increased numbers of SLS, is linked to metastasis and poor prognosis.
spellingShingle Giatromanolaki, A
Koukourakis, M
Harris, A
Polychronidis, A
Gatter, K
Sivridis, E
Prognostic relevance of light chain 3 (LC3A) autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas.
title Prognostic relevance of light chain 3 (LC3A) autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas.
title_full Prognostic relevance of light chain 3 (LC3A) autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas.
title_fullStr Prognostic relevance of light chain 3 (LC3A) autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas.
title_full_unstemmed Prognostic relevance of light chain 3 (LC3A) autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas.
title_short Prognostic relevance of light chain 3 (LC3A) autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas.
title_sort prognostic relevance of light chain 3 lc3a autophagy patterns in colorectal adenocarcinomas
work_keys_str_mv AT giatromanolakia prognosticrelevanceoflightchain3lc3aautophagypatternsincolorectaladenocarcinomas
AT koukourakism prognosticrelevanceoflightchain3lc3aautophagypatternsincolorectaladenocarcinomas
AT harrisa prognosticrelevanceoflightchain3lc3aautophagypatternsincolorectaladenocarcinomas
AT polychronidisa prognosticrelevanceoflightchain3lc3aautophagypatternsincolorectaladenocarcinomas
AT gatterk prognosticrelevanceoflightchain3lc3aautophagypatternsincolorectaladenocarcinomas
AT sivridise prognosticrelevanceoflightchain3lc3aautophagypatternsincolorectaladenocarcinomas