Relationship between the expression of connexin 43 and the invasion ability, prognosis, and outcome of melanomas

ZHANG Ji-bei; LI Hui; ZHANG Chun-hua; HOU Xiao-qian; WANG Jun-ling

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-7040.2018.04.009

Abstract：Objective To explore the relationship between the expression of connexin 43 (Cx43) and the invasion ability,prognosis and outcome of melanomas.Methods From February 2015 to April 2017,70 patients in Cangzhou Central Hospital with malignant melanomas were selected as the subjects.General information and clinical pathology information of the patients was collected through inquiry and examination of cases.The relative content of Cx43 mRNA in the patients' cancer tissues and adjacent tissues was determined by RT-PCR.According to the relative content of Cx43 mRNA in the cancer tissues,the 70 patients with melanomas were divided into two groups.Patients with a relative content of Cx43 mRNA less than 0.700 served as the low expression group (n=39),and patients with more than 0.700 was the high expression group (n=31).The prognosis and outcome of patients in both two groups were compared.Results The relative content of Cx43 mRNA in the cancer tissues of melanoma patients was 0.671 ± 0.052,significantly lower than that in the adjacent tissues of 0.748 ± 0.063.The difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).The Cx43 mRNA relative content of carcinoma in patients with TNM staging for Ⅰ+Ⅱ stage was significantly higher than that of patients in Ⅲ + Ⅳ stage (0.749 ± 0.031∶0.662 ± 0.044).When the diameter of the tumor was less than 4 cm,the Cx43 mRNA relative content was significantly higher than that in patients with tumors with a diameter of more than 4 cm (0.752 ± 0.073∶0.684 ± 0.070).In patients with a shallow layer infiltration depth,the Cx43 mRNA relative content of the carcinoma was significantly higher than that in patients with deep layer infiltration (0.744 ± 0.051∶0.677 ± 0.050).The Cx43 mRNA relative content in patients with lymph node metastasis was significantly lower than in patients without lymph node metastasis (0.692 ± 0.064∶0.733 ± 0.065).These above differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05).In the Cx43 mRNA high expression group,the median survival time of patients was (25.43 ± 5.29) months,and the one-year survival rate was 51.61％.The median survival time of patients in the low expression group was (17.18 ± 3.46) months,and the one-year survival rate was 23.08％.Both median survival period and one-year survival rate in the low expression group were significantly better than those of patients in the high expression group (P＜0.05).Conclusion The expression of Cx43 is related to the invasion ability and prognosis of melanomas.Lower Cx43 expression indicated stronger tumor invasion ability and more serious disease.These patients tended to have poor prognoses.