Cten mRNA expression is correlated with tumor progression in thymoma.

Cten is a recently isolated gene which has homology with tensin, suggesting that it is a focal adhesion molecule. Tensin family proteins play an important role in cell motility. We attempted to determine the influence of cten expression on clinicopathological features in patients with thymoma who had undergone surgery. Expression of cten messenger RNA was evaluated by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction in 45 thymoma samples using a LightCycler. There was no relationship between cten/glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA expression and age, gender or pathological subtypes. However, cten/GAPDH expression was significantly higher in stage IV thymoma (5.463 +/- 7.730) when compared to stage I thymoma (0.905 +/- 0.811; p = 0.0187). Cten/GAPDH mRNA expression was correlated with evidence of tumor progression in thymoma. Consequently, cell motility or migration might play a role in progression of thymoma.