Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Functional studies of SOX11 and T-STAR - Translation of tumor-associated genes into clinical and biological insight

Sernbo, Sandra LU (2013)
Abstract
Cancer is a disease that will affect most of us during a lifetime. Although the survival of cancer patients has incresed due to better treatment and earlier diagnosis, the prevalance of the disease is still increasing. This increase in the number of cancer cases diagnosed will impose a challenge to the cancer care and higher costs for socitey. Personalized medicine aims at reducing these costs while at the same time improving the care for the patient, mainly by using a more individualized therapy, but also a more preventive cancer care and even earlier diagnosis. For example, a more indivivualized treatment can target specific genetic aberrations found in a patient, and avoid treating those patients who lack the aberrations and therefore... (More)
Cancer is a disease that will affect most of us during a lifetime. Although the survival of cancer patients has incresed due to better treatment and earlier diagnosis, the prevalance of the disease is still increasing. This increase in the number of cancer cases diagnosed will impose a challenge to the cancer care and higher costs for socitey. Personalized medicine aims at reducing these costs while at the same time improving the care for the patient, mainly by using a more individualized therapy, but also a more preventive cancer care and even earlier diagnosis. For example, a more indivivualized treatment can target specific genetic aberrations found in a patient, and avoid treating those patients who lack the aberrations and therefore will not respond. To accomplish the goals of personalized medicine, biomarkers that can divide patients into different subgroups are needed.



The aim of this thesis was to explore SOX11 and T-STAR as potential biomarkers in cancer. I was also interested in the function of these proteins in the tumor tissues where they are specifically expressed. Immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays was used to evaluate the expression of SOX11 and T-STAR in primary tumor tissues, and the expression was then correlated to survival in the patients. The function of the proteins was explored using RNA interference and overexpression experiements in cancer cell lines.



The results from my studies are presented in five papers in this thesis. First, we could confirm the diagnostic role of SOX11 in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Second, I show the prognostic potential of this protein, as patients with high expression of SOX11 are associated with a better survival, both in MCL and high-grade epithelial ovarian cancer. In MCL, SOX11 could possibly complement the MCL international prognostic index MIPI , a prognostic biomarker already in use in this disease. Third, in both tumor types SOX11 functions as a tumor-suppressor in vitro. Regarding T-STAR, its expression is correlated with better outcome for breast cancer patients, and therefore shows potential as a prognostic biomarker. Our studies also show that T-STAR has a growth-inhibitory function in breast cancer cell lines.



In conclusion, both SOX11 and T-STAR are biomarkers that could be used in personalized medicine to subgroup patients and potentially guide treatment decisions. Both proteins function as growth-inhibitors in vitro, which correlates to the better prognosis for the patients with tumors expressing the proteins in vivo. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • Shoshan, Maria, Dept. of Oncology-Pathology
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
defense location
Lecture Hall: Segerfalkssalen, BMC, Sölvegatan 19, Lund
defense date
2013-02-15 09:15:00
ISBN
978-91-7473-446-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e79b3351-b7c8-47ed-88d2-375d7873e682 (old id 3402788)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 12:56:07
date last changed
2019-03-13 18:19:45
@phdthesis{e79b3351-b7c8-47ed-88d2-375d7873e682,
  abstract     = {{Cancer is a disease that will affect most of us during a lifetime. Although the survival of cancer patients has incresed due to better treatment and earlier diagnosis, the prevalance of the disease is still increasing. This increase in the number of cancer cases diagnosed will impose a challenge to the cancer care and higher costs for socitey. Personalized medicine aims at reducing these costs while at the same time improving the care for the patient, mainly by using a more individualized therapy, but also a more preventive cancer care and even earlier diagnosis. For example, a more indivivualized treatment can target specific genetic aberrations found in a patient, and avoid treating those patients who lack the aberrations and therefore will not respond. To accomplish the goals of personalized medicine, biomarkers that can divide patients into different subgroups are needed. <br/><br>
<br/><br>
The aim of this thesis was to explore SOX11 and T-STAR as potential biomarkers in cancer. I was also interested in the function of these proteins in the tumor tissues where they are specifically expressed. Immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays was used to evaluate the expression of SOX11 and T-STAR in primary tumor tissues, and the expression was then correlated to survival in the patients. The function of the proteins was explored using RNA interference and overexpression experiements in cancer cell lines.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The results from my studies are presented in five papers in this thesis. First, we could confirm the diagnostic role of SOX11 in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Second, I show the prognostic potential of this protein, as patients with high expression of SOX11 are associated with a better survival, both in MCL and high-grade epithelial ovarian cancer. In MCL, SOX11 could possibly complement the MCL international prognostic index MIPI , a prognostic biomarker already in use in this disease. Third, in both tumor types SOX11 functions as a tumor-suppressor in vitro. Regarding T-STAR, its expression is correlated with better outcome for breast cancer patients, and therefore shows potential as a prognostic biomarker. Our studies also show that T-STAR has a growth-inhibitory function in breast cancer cell lines.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In conclusion, both SOX11 and T-STAR are biomarkers that could be used in personalized medicine to subgroup patients and potentially guide treatment decisions. Both proteins function as growth-inhibitors in vitro, which correlates to the better prognosis for the patients with tumors expressing the proteins in vivo.}},
  author       = {{Sernbo, Sandra}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-7473-446-1}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Functional studies of SOX11 and T-STAR - Translation of tumor-associated genes into clinical and biological insight}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}