Analysis of Ki67 Protein Expression and Clinicopathological Features in Patients with Peritoneal Mesothelioma

Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine 2023 December 8 [Link]

Dujuan Yang, Yeping Zhou, Kongdan Lv

Abstract

Background: At present, there are many treatments for peritoneal mesothelioma, but the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma is still facing great challenges. Distant metastasis is the main cause of poor prognosis and death of patients with peritoneal mesothelioma. Ki67 is a cell proliferation marker. In recent years, it has been found to be used as a molecular marker for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of different tumor cells. Ki67 has been shown to play a crucial role in the occurrence and development of a variety of cancers. However, the clinical significance and biological function of Ki67 in peritoneal mesothelioma remain poorly understood.

Purpose: To clarify the expression of Ki67 in peritoneal mesothelioma (PC), and to explore the relationship between the expression level of Ki67 and the clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of patients with PC, and to explore the potential of Ki67 as a therapeutic target and prognostic biomarker for PC.

Methods: TIMER database was used to compare the expression levels of Ki67 mRNA and protein in mesothelioma tissues and adjacent tissues. The relationship between the expression level of Ki67 in mesothelioma and clinicopathological characteristics, and the relationship between the expression level of Ki67 and the level of immune infiltration in mesothelioma were analyzed. The prognostic value of Ki67 in mesothelioma patients was predicted, and the overall survival curve was drawn according to the follow-up data. LinkedOmics database and GSEA were used to perform co-expression analysis and enrichment analysis of Ki67, respectively.

Results: Bioinformatics analysis showed that Ki67 was highly expressed in peritoneal mesothelioma (P < .01). Immunohistochemistry showed that the positive rate of Ki67 in peritoneal mesothelioma was high, and the number of Ki67 positive cases was 62.0% (31/50 cases). Univariate analysis showed that TNM stage (P = .007), asbestos (P < .001), chemotherapy (P < .001), and Ki67 expression level (P = .029) were associated with prognosis. Multivariate analysis showed that Ki67 expression level (P = .039) and TNM stage (P = .029) were independent risk factors for the prognosis of peritoneal mesothelioma. Peritoneal mesothelioma patients with high Ki67 expression have poor OS. In addition, Ki67 is also associated with the immune infiltration of mesothelioma.

Conclusion: Ki67 is highly expressed in peritoneal mesothelioma. Ki67 protein plays an important role in the development of peritoneal mesothelioma and is one of the important factors to evaluate the prognosis of patients with peritoneal mesothelioma.