Adipophilin expression is an indicator of poor prognosis in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: An immunohistochemical analysis

Abstract Objective Adipophilin is a lipid droplet-associated protein, and its expression has been correlated with aggressive clinical behavior in some types of carcinomas, though its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has not been clarified. This study aimed to evaluate the role of adipophilin in PDAC. Methods By immunohistochemical staining using tissue microarrays, we analyzed the expression profiles of adipophilin in 181 consecutive PDAC patients who underwent macroscopic margin-negative resection from January 2008 to December 2015. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were compared based on adipophilin expression, and the risk factors for OS, RFS, and early recurrence (within 6 months) were analyzed. Results Of the 181 evaluated patients, 51 (28.2%) were positive for adipophilin expression. A histopathological grade of 3 ( p = 0.0012 ), higher CA19-9 level ( p = 0.0016 ), and R1 status ( p = 0.028 ) were significantly associated with adipophilin-positive patients who had significantly poor OS and RFS compared to those associated with adipophilin-negative patients ( p = 0.0007 and p = 0.0022 , respectively). They also showed a significantly higher incidence of early recurrence ( p = 0.030 ), based on multivariate analyses. Conclusions Adipophilin is a potential independent prognostic marker for PDAC.