Analysis of wntless (WLS) expression in gastric, ovarian, and breast cancers reveals a strong association with HER2 overexpression

Jonathan Stewart, Jacqueline James, Glenn W McCluggage, Stephen McQuaid, Kenneth Arthur, David Boyle, Paul Mullan, Darragh McArt, Benedict Yan, Gareth Irwin, D Paul Harkin, Lei Zhengdeng, Chee Wee Ong, Jia Yu, David M Virshup, Manuel Salto-Tellez*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The oncogenic role of WNT is well characterized. Wntless (WLS) (also known as GPR177, or Evi), a key modulator of WNT protein secretion, was recently found to be highly overexpressed in malignant astrocytomas. We hypothesized that this molecule may be aberrantly expressed in other cancers known to possess aberrant WNT signaling such as ovarian, gastric, and breast cancers. Immunohistochemical analysis using a TMA platform revealed WLS overexpression in a subset of ovarian, gastric, and breast tumors; this overexpression was associated with poorer clinical outcomes in gastric cancer (P=0.025). In addition, a strong correlation was observed between WLS expression and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression. Indeed, 100% of HER2-positive intestinal gastric carcinomas, 100% of HER2-positive serous ovarian carcinomas, and 64% of HER2-positive breast carcinomas coexpressed WLS protein. Although HER2 protein expression or gene amplification is an established predictive biomarker for trastuzumab response in breast and gastric cancers, a significant proportion of HER2-positive tumors display resistance to trastuzumab, which may be in part explainable by a possible mechanistic link between WLS and HER2.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)428-436
Number of pages9
JournalModern Pathology
Volume28
Issue number3
Early online date26 Sept 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01 Mar 2015

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