DUSP 4 expression identifies a subset of colorectal cancer tumors that differ in MAPK activation, regardless of the genotype. (September 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: De Vriendt, Veerle; De Roock, Wendy; Di Narzo, Antonio Fabio; Tian, Sun; Biesmans, Bart; Jacobs, Bart; Budinska, Eva; Sagaert, Xavier; Rossi, Simona; D'Ario, Giovanni; Delorenzi, Mauro; Simon, Iris; Vecchione, Loredana; Tejpar, Sabine
• Is Part Of: Biomarkers. Volume 18:Number 6(2013)
• Page Start: 516
• Page End: 524
• Publication Date: 2013-09
• Subjects: Biochemical markers -- Periodicals; 610.28
• DOI: 10.3109/1354750X.2013.819038
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1354-750X

Abstract

<abstract> <title>Abstract</title> <p>As dual-specificity phosphatase (DUSP) expression has been correlated to sensitivity to MEK inhibitors, DUSP expression levels may indicate activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in many tumor types. In this study, we investigate if DUSP levels can indicate different levels of MAPK activation within colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. In three different CRC patient microarray datasets, we analyzed the expression of <italic>DUSP1. DUSP4</italic> and <italic>DUSP6</italic> according to mutational status, their correlation with survival and their association with different clinical characteristics. <italic>DUSP4 </italic>was significantly differentially expressed between all mutational subgroups with the highest expression in <italic>BRAF </italic>mutated tumors. Moreover, high <italic>DUSP4 </italic>expression was associated with a worse overall survival and with clinical characteristics typical for <italic>BRAF </italic>mutant patients. The use of DUSP expression as a predictive biomarker towards MAPK targeted therapy in CRC patients needs further investigation.</p> </abstract>