The Expression Levels of Vinculin in Pancreatic Cancer Tissues Significantly Correlates With Patient Survival

Background/aim Proteomics is an approach that can detect differentially expressed proteins between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue samples. Previously, we found that vinculin was predominantly expressed in pancreatic cancerous tissues compared to adjacent non-cancerous tissues by performing proteomic differential display analysis. However, the clinicopathological significance of vinculin in pancreatic cancer has not yet been documented. Materials and methods The GEPIA2 and the Human Protein Atlas databases were used to analyze vinculin expression levels in cancerous tissue samples and investigate whether its expression level is clinically associated with patient survival. Results Vinculin mRNA expression levels were solely increased in pancreatic cancer tissues, and increased expression was inversely related to patient survival. Higher levels of vinculin protein were found in pancreatic cancer tissues. In contrast, faint staining of vinculin was observed throughout the normal pancreatic tissues. Conclusion Vinculin may be an unfavorable prognostic indicator for patients with pancreatic cancer.