Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of myofibrillogenesis regulator-1 protein expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Myofibrillogenesis regulator-1 (MR-1) expression was detected in different malignancies and is associated with poor prognosis. However, its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has not been fully elucidated. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the association of MR-1 expression with clinicopathologic features and prognosis in patients with PDAC. Immunohistochemistry was performed to investigate the protein expression of MR-1 and epithelial (E)-cadherin in 87 patients with PDAC. Results showed that MR-1 expression was correlated with histologic grade, tumor stage, and lymph node metastasis (all P < 0.05). In addition, MR-1 expression showed a significant inverse correlation with E-cadherin expression (P = 0.002). Furthermore, the variables associated with prognosis were analyzed by Cox's proportional hazards model. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to plot survival curves according to different expression levels of MR-1. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that MR-1 expression was significantly associated with worse disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates in patients with PDAC (both P < 0.001). Finally, multivariate analysis demonstrated that MR-1 expression, together with histologic grade, tumor stage, lymph node metastasis, was an independent prognostic factor for both DFS and OS rates in patients with PDAC. MR-1 overexpression was tightly associated with more aggressive tumor behavior and a poor prognosis, indicating that MR-1 is a valuable molecular biomarker for PDAC progression.