Expression and clinical significance of KIF15, EGFR, and HER2 in gallbladder cancer

doi:10.16139/j.1007-9610.2025.05.06

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expression of kinesin family member 15(KIF15), epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2) in gallbladder cancer(GBC) and their clinical and pathological significance. Methods Immunohistochemical staining was employed to detect the expression of KIF15, EGFR, and HER2 proteins in GBC tissue microarrays. The correlation between protein expression levels and various clinical and pathological characteristics of GBC patients was analyzed. Results The positive expression rates of KIF15, EGFR, and HER2 proteins in GBC tissues were 71.6%, 62.2%, and 51.4% respectively, compared to 16.7%, 0, and 0 in para-carcinoma tissues (all P=0.000). KIF15 expression was correlated with cancer differentiation grade (P=0.006), while EGFR expression was associated with lymph node metastasis(P=0.026) and the number of metastatic lymph nodes(P=0.012). HER2 expression was correlated with cancer differentiation grade(P=0.018), tumor size(P=0.005), and T stage(P=0.032). GBC patients with co-positive expression of KIF15 and HER2 had significantly lower overall survival compared to those with negative expression. Positive HER2 expression, lymph node metastasis, and the number of metastatic lymph nodes were identified as independent risk factors for overall survival in GBC patients. Conclusions Positive expression of KIF15, EGFR, and HER2 in GBC tissues are correlated with various clinical indicators and poorer prognosis. These proteins may serve as potential factors for predicting prognosis and evaluating therapeutic efficacy in GBC.

Key words: Gallbladder cancer (GBC), Kinesin family member 15(KIF15), Epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR), Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2), Clinical and pathological characteristics, Prognosis

CLC Number:

R735.8

WANG Jun, WANG Lubing, HU Gangfeng, ZHANG Bo, HUANG Xia, HUANG Lei. Expression and clinical significance of KIF15, EGFR, and HER2 in gallbladder cancer[J]. Journal of Surgery Concepts & Practice, 2025, 30(05): 409-416.

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Spearman's correlation	KIF15	EGFR	HER2
KIF15	1 (P=0.000)	0.189 (P=0.107)	0.347 (P=0.002)
EGFR	0.189 (P=0.107)	1 (P=0.000)	0.3 (P=0.009)
HER2	0.347 (P=0.002)	0.3 (P=0.009)	1 (P=0.000)

Variable	COX coefficient	Standard deviation	Wald value	HR	P value
KIF15 positive	-0.449	0.696	0.415	0.638	0.519
EGFR positive	0.37	0.874	0.179	1.447	0.672
HER2 positive	2.192	0.703	9.713	8.956	0.002
Age	0.105	0.511	0.043	1.111	0.836
Gender-male	0.235	0.511	0.212	1.265	0.645
Differentiation grade	0.049	0.553	0.008	1.05	0.93
Tumor infiltrate	0.016	1.509	0	1.017	0.991
Lymph node metastasis	-3.346	1.474	5.155	0.035	0.023
Distant metastasis	0.163	1.771	0.008	1.177	0.927
Tumor size	-0.01	0.189	0.003	0.99	0.959
Number of metastatic lymph nodes	5.266	2.148	6.009	193.661	0.014
TNM classification	0.871	1.508	0.333	2.389	0.564
Adenosquamous carcinoma	-1.401	0.854	2.687	0.246	0.101
Squamous cell carcinoma	1.489	1.271	1.372	4.433	0.242