Background
This study detected neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally down-regulated 9 (NEDD9) expression in osteosarcoma tissue samples. It also examined the association between NEDD9 expression and clinicopathological features of osteosarcoma.
Conclusions
High NEDD9 expression in osteosarcoma independently indicated poor clinical prognosis, indicating the possibility that NEDD9 could be a therapeutic target for osteosarcoma.
Methods
The prognostic value of NEDD9 has been verified in multiple solid cancers, but not osteosarcoma. In this study, 45 osteosarcoma paraffin-embedded specimens were accumulated and applied based on immunohistochemistry to identify NEDD9 expression. A correlation linking NEDD9 expression, clinicopathological qualities, and its prognostic significance was assessed to verify whether NEDD9 could be a poor prognosis biomarker.
Results
High NEDD9 expression compared to its low expression in osteosarcoma tissue was shown in the immunohistochemical assay. The percentage of high and low NEDD9 expression was 62.2% and 37.8% respectively. NEDD9 expression level was significantly associated with metastasis and Enneking stage (P<0.05), while gender, age, tumor size, sites, and histopathological types were not. Univariate analysis showed that metastasis with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.63 (P=0.003), Enneking stage III (HR =5.44, P=0.009), chondroblastic osteosarcoma (HR =2.59, P=0.014), and high NEDD9 expression (HR =2.79, P=0.002) were prognostic factors contributing to poor overall survival (OS). Moreover, multivariate analysis revealed that nonconventional pathological osteosarcoma (HR =0.17, P=0.010) and NEDD9 expression (HR =6.03, P<0.001) were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: High NEDD9 expression in osteosarcoma independently indicated poor clinical prognosis, indicating the possibility that NEDD9 could be a therapeutic target for osteosarcoma.