Leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor subfamily B member 1 potentially acts as a diagnostic and prognostic target in certain subtypes of adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND

Leukocyte immunoglobulin (Ig)-like receptor subfamily B member 1 (LILRB1) involves in the occurrence and development of various tumors through transmitting immune inhibitory signals. However, the regulatory mechanism of LILRB1 underlying the disease progression of adenocarcinoma remains vague. This study is aimed to disclose the expression pattern of LILRB1 on adenocarcinoma and its indicative roles on the diagnosis and prognosis of adenocarcinoma patients.

METHODS

LILRB1 level in microarray was measured using immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining. Expression analysis of LILRB1 gene were based on the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2.0 (GEPIA2) and Oncomine databases. Survival and correlation analyses were analyzed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database (Breastinvasivecarcinoma, TCGA-BRCA).

RESULTS

The IHC results showed that the number of LILRB1-positive cells were robustly elevated in some common subtypes of adenocarcinoma including thyroid gland papillary carcinoma, gastric mixed adenocarcinoma, colon and rectal mucinous adenocarcinoma, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and invasive ductal breast carcinoma compared to their corresponding para-carcinoma. Although the enhancement of LILRB1 expression was only observed in pancreaticadenocarcinoma (PAAD) by using GEPIA2, its expression presented a significant increase in the above subtypes of adenocarcinoma by analyzing using Oncomine database. Besides, there had a significant positive association between LILRB1 expression status and pathological stages, and a negative association between LILRB1 status and Overall Survival (OS) probability in the above certain subtypes of adenocarcinoma.

CONCLUSION

LILRB1 is abnormally upregulated in certain subtypes of adenocarcinoma. Patients with low LILRB1 possibly portend a good prognosis in adenocarcinoma. These findings imply that LILRB1 may act as a diagnostic and prognostic target in some subtypes of adenocarcinoma.