PINCH expression in relation to radiation response in co-cultured colon cancer cells and in rectal cancer patients.

Particularly interesting new cysteine-histidine rich protein (PINCH), involved in cell spreading, motility and proliferation, has been shown to enhance radioresistance in colon cancer cell lines. The expression of PINCH in relation to radiation was studied in co-cultured colon cancer cells. Furthermore, the clinical significance between PINCH and radiotherapy (RT) was analyzed in rectal cancer patients with or without RT. The relative PINCH expression in colon cancer (KM12C) cells cultured separately and in co-culture was examined by western blotting and real-time PCR, and was analyzed over a period of 8 and 24 h after radiation. PINCH expression was immunohistochemically examined in 137 primary rectal tumors for which 65 cases did not receive RT and 72 cases received RT. PINCH expression tended to decrease from that in the separately cultured KM12C cells without radiation to that in cells with radiation at 8 h (P=0.060); while in the co-cultured cells, no significant difference was found (P=0.446). In patients with RT, strong PINCH expression was related to worse survival, when compared to patients with weak expression, independent of TNM stage, degree of differentiation, age and p53 status (P=0.029, RR 4.03, 95% CI 1.34‑12.1). No survival relationship for the patients without RT was observed (P=0.287). A statistical interaction analysis between PINCH, RT and survival showed a trend towards significance (P=0.057). In conclusion, PINCH predicts survival in rectal cancer patients with RT, but not in patients without RT. The expression of PINCH may be regulated by radiation and by environmental factors surrounding the cells.