UNR/CDSE1 expression as prognosis biomarker in resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients: A proof-of-concept

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death. When possible, curative approaches are based on surgical resection, though not every patient is a candidate for surgery. There are clinical guidelines for the management of these patients that offer different treatment options depending on the clinical and pathologic characteristics. However, the survival rates seen in this kind of patients are still low. The CDSE1 gene is located upstream of NRAS and encodes an RNA-binding protein termed UNR. The aim of this study was to analyze UNR expression and its correlation with outcome in patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). For this, samples from resectable PDAC patients who underwent duodenopancreatectomy were used to evaluate UNR protein expression by immunohistochemistry using a tissue microarray. Here, we observed that low UNR expression was significantly associated with shorter progression-free survival after surgery (P = 0.010). Moreover, this prognostic marker remained significant after Cox proportional hazards model (P = 0.036). We further studied the role of CDSE1 expression in patient’s prognosis using data from public repositories (GEO and TGCA), confirming our results. Interestingly, CDSE1 expression correlated with that of genes characteristic of an immunogenic molecular subtype of pancreatic cancer. Based on these findings, UNR may be considered a potential prognostic biomarker for resectable PDAC and may serve to guide subsequent adjuvant treatment decisions.