TY - JOUR TI - Histone deacetylase (HDAC)-1, -2, -4 and -6 expression in human pancreatic adenocarcinoma: Associations with clinicopathological parameters, tumor proliferative capacity and patients' survival AU - Giaginis, C. AU - Damaskos, C. AU - Koutsounas, I. AU - Zizi-Serbetzoglou, A. AU - Tsoukalas, N. AU - Patsouris, E. AU - Kouraklis, G. AU - Theocharis, S. JO - BMC Gastroenterology PY - 2015 VL - 15 TODO - 1 SP - null PB - BioMed Central Ltd. SN - 1471-230X TODO - 10.1186/s12876-015-0379-y TODO - histone deacetylase 1; histone deacetylase 2; histone deacetylase 4; histone deacetylase 6; HDAC1 protein, human; HDAC2 protein, human; HDAC4 protein, human; HDAC6 protein, human; histone deacetylase; histone deacetylase 1; histone deacetylase 2; repressor protein; tumor marker, adult; aged; Article; cancer growth; cancer prognosis; cancer staging; cancer survival; clinical article; controlled study; disease association; enzyme localization; female; human; human tissue; immunoreactivity; male; overall survival; pancreas adenocarcinoma; protein expression; survival time; tumor volume; adenocarcinoma; cell proliferation; enzymology; gene expression; genetics; metabolism; metastasis; middle aged; mortality; pancreas tumor; pathology, Adenocarcinoma; Aged; Biomarkers, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Female; Gene Expression; Histone Deacetylase 1; Histone Deacetylase 2; Histone Deacetylases; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Metastasis; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Repressor Proteins TODO - Background: Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been associated with malignant tumor development and progression in humans. HDAC inhibitors (HDACIs) are currently being explored as anti-cancer agents in clinical trials. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of HDAC-1, -2, -4 and -6 protein expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Methods: HDAC-1, -2, -4 and -6 protein expression was assessed immunohistochemically on 70 pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue specimens and was statistically analyzed with clinicopathological characteristics and patients' survival. Results: Enhanced HDAC-1 expression was significantly associated with increased tumor proliferative capacity (p = 0.0238) and borderline with the absence of lymph node metastases (p = 0.0632). Elevated HDAC-4 expression was significantly associated with the absence of organ metastases (p = 0.0453) and borderline with the absence of lymph node metastases (p = 0.0571) and tumor proliferative capacity (p = 0.0576). Enhanced HDAC-6 expression was significantly associated with earlier histopathological stage (p = 0.0115) and borderline with smaller tumor size (p = 0.0864). Pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients with enhanced HDAC-1 and -6 expression showed significantly longer survival times compared to those with low expression (p = 0.0022 and p = 0.0113, respectively), while a borderline association concerning HDAC-2 expression was noted (p = 0.0634). Conclusions: The present study suggested that HDACs may be implicated in pancreatic malignant disease progression, being considered of clinical utility with potential use as therapeutic targets. © 2015 Giaginis et al. ER -