Prognostic Significance of Glyoxalase-1 Enzyme Activity in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Patients

In previous studies, excessive expression of Glyoxalase-1 enzyme (GLO-1) has been reported in various tumor tissues and cells, and it has been shown to be associated with poor prognosis in some tumors. In this study, we examined the relationship between GLO-1 expression, progression-free survival (PFS) and metastatic overall survival (mOS). We retrospectively appraised 99 patients diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma from July 2012 to August 2020. GLO-1 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry. According to the immunoreactivity score, the patients were divided into two groups: those with low immunoreactivity and those with high immunoreactivity. Survival probabilities were predicted with the Kaplan-Meier method and group comparisons were applied with the Log-rank test. Furthermore, univariate and multiple Cox regression analyses were used to determine the most substantial risk elements. While the median PFS was 3 months (95% CI: 1.84-4.16) in the low GLO-1 IRS group, the median PFS was 2 months (95% CI: 1.76-2.24) in the group with high GLO-1 IRS (p= 0.002). While the median mOS was 7 months (95% CI: 6.39-7.61) in the group with low GLO-1 IRS, the median mOS was 5 months (95% CI: 3.72-6.28) in the group with high GLO-1 IRS (p< 0.001). According to multivariate analysis; a low GLO-1 immunoreactivity score was the independent variable for good mOS (HR= 0.51; 95% CI: 0.33-0.79, p= 0.003) and PFS (HR= 0.64; 95% CI: 0.42-0.97, p= 0.035). In conclusion, increased GLO-1 expression was associated with a poor prognosis in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients. Keywords: Glyoxalase 1, Pancreatic cancer, Prognosis