<p><em>ITGA3</em> serves as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer</p>

Abstract

<b>Background and objective:</b> ITGA3 is a cell surface adhesion protein that interacts with extracellular matrix proteins which function in cancer metastasis. We examined the relationship of pancreatic <i>ITGA3</i> expression with the clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with pancreatic cancer. <b>Methods:</b> Data mining was used to analyze pancreatic cancer data from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. A Chi squared test was used to evaluate correlations of <i>ITGA3</i> expression with clinical and pathological parameters. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of <i>ITGA3</i> expression. Survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to examine the prognostic value of <i>ITGA3</i> expression. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was used to identify signaling pathways related to <i>ITGA3</i> expression. <b>Results:</b> Pancreatic expression of <i>ITGA3</i> was greater in patients with pancreatic cancer than those without cancer, and was also associated with histological type, histological grade, stage, T classification, vital status, and relapse. ROC analysis indicated that <i>ITGA3</i> had significant diagnostic value, in that high expression correlated with poor overall survival and relapse-free survival, especially in patients with early-stage cancer. Cox analysis indicated that high <i>ITGA3</i> expression was an independent prognostic factor for pancreatic cancer. GSEA analysis identified 9 signaling pathways that were enriched in the presence of high <i>ITGA3</i> expression. <b>Conclusion:</b> Expression of <i>ITGA3</i> can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in pancreatic cancer.