BACKGROUND: Coiled-coil domain containing 34 (CCDC34) promotes cell proliferation and invasive properties in human cancer. The aim of this study was to compare the expression of CCDC34 in pancreatic adenocarcinoma with normal pancreatic tissue, and to evaluate the prognostic significance of CCDC34 expression in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, using bioinformatics.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The expression and prognostic value of CCDC34 were initially predicted using Oncomine and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue samples (N=90) and matched normal pancreatic tissues (N=90) were studied using immunohistochemistry to measure CCDC34 protein expression levels. Univariate Kaplan-Meier, and multivariate Cox analysis were used to determine the prognostic role of CCDC34 expression.

RESULTS: Oncomine and TCGA databases predicted that CCDC34 mRNA expression levels were significantly increased in pancreatic adenocarcinoma compared with normal pancreatic tissues (P<0.05), and that patients with increased CCDC34 mRNA expression levels had significantly lower overall survival (OS) (P=0.031). Immunohistochemistry showed that expression levels of CCDC34 protein in pancreatic adenocarcinoma were significantly increased, compared with normal pancreas (P=0.000). Patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma with increased expression of tissue CCDC34 had significantly reduced OS compared with patients with low expression (P=0.000). Univariate and multivariate survival analysis showed that increased expression of CCDC34 was an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (all, P=0.000).

CONCLUSIONS: Compared with normal pancreas, CCDC34 expression was significantly increased in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and increased CCDC34 expression was an independent predictor of poor patient prognosis.

Keywords: rho-Associated Kinases