Expression and prognostic significance of 14-3-3σ and ERM family protein expression in periampullary neoplasms

Aberrant gene expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas contributes to the dismal outcome of patients who develop this disease. The 5’ region of 14-3-3 sigma (stratifin) is hypomethylated in pancreatic adenocarcinomas and is associated with gene overexpression. In multiple experimental systems, ezrin (ERM, Radixin, Moesin) has been identified as being important in the metastatic behavior of pancreatic and other cancers. We investigated the prognostic significance of aberrant expression of 14-3-3 sigma and the ERM proteins (Ezrin, radixin, Moesin) in a series of invasive periampullary adenocarcinomas including 300 infiltrating pancreatic adenocarcinomas, 54 ampullary adenocarcinomas, and 33 non-invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms from patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenal resection at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, between 1991 and 2003.244 (82%) primary infiltrating adenocarcinomas of the pancreas demonstrated positive expression of the 14-3-3sigma, 45 (15%) showed wea...