Prognostic significance of EZH2 expression in patients with oesophageal cancer: a meta‐analysis

Abstract

Enhancer of zeste 2 (EZH2), a key component of polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), was of great importance in human cancer pathogenesis. Various studies examined the relationship between EZH2 overexpression with the clinical outcome in patients with digestive cancers, but yielded conflicting results. Electronic databases updated to January 2015 were searched to find relevant studies. A meta‐analysis was conducted with eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between EZH2 overexpression and survival of patients with digestive cancers. Survival data were aggregated and quantitatively analysed. We performed a meta‐analysis of 10 studies (n = 1461 patients) that evaluated the correlation between EZH2 overexpression and survival in patients with digestive cancers. Combined hazard ratios suggested that EZH2 overexpression was associated with poor prognosis of overall survival (HR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.27–1.81) in patients with oesophageal cancer. In the stratified analysis, no significant risks were found among gastric cancer (HR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.16–1.15) and colorectal cancer (HR = 0.91, 0.63–1.19), indicating that EZH2 was not an indicator of poor prognosis in gastric cancer or colorectal cancer. Enhancer of zeste 2 overexpression indicates a poor prognosis for patients with oesophageal cancer, but not among gastric cancer or colorectal cancer.

EZH2 inhibition promotes methyl jasmonate‑induced apoptosis of human colorectal cancer through the Wnt/β‑catenin pathway

“…Previous studies revealed that the EZH2 gene participated in cellular growth regulation (6,7). The mechanism underlying the function of EZH2 function was the inhibition of the Wnt signaling pathway in chromatin and the promotion of cell proliferation (7,8).…”

“…Previous studies revealed that the EZH2 gene participated in cellular growth regulation (6,7). The mechanism underlying the function of EZH2 function was the inhibition of the Wnt signaling pathway in chromatin and the promotion of cell proliferation (7,8). Furthermore, as a transcription inhibition factor, EZH2 influenced the activity of multiple genes at the gene level; most notably, it inhibited tumor metastasis genes (including phosphoinositide, protein kinase B and matrix metalloproteinases), aiding the promotion of infiltration and migration of cancer cells (7,8).…”

Epigenetic regulation of cancer biology and anti-tumor immunity by EZH2

“…In the later study the authors found that EZH2 expression was strongly associated with loss of the cell cycle suppressor protein p16 in melanomas and endometrial carcinomas and increased expression in cyclin D1 in melanomas [20] connecting their findings with uncontrolled cell cycle in cancer cells overexpressing EZH2. EZH2 expression in colorectal cancer was reported to positively associate with TNM stage and lymph node metastasis [21] while another study evaluating the role of EZH2 expression in gastrointestinal malignancies, found that its overexpression is correlated with poor prognosis in esophageal but not colorectal and gastric cancer [22]. Moreover, EZH2 has been strongly associated with advanced stage and poor prognosis in squamous cell malignancies including cervical cancer [23], esophageal squamous cell carcinoma [24] and head and neck cancer [25].…”

Bimodal Regulation of the PRC2 Complex by USP7 Underlies Melanomagenesis

“…EZH2 methylates H3K27, which facilitates chromatin compaction and gene silencing (2). Several lines of evidence have implicated EZH2 in the development and progression of a variety of cancers, and elevated expression of EZH2 often correlates with a poor prognosis (3, 4). An early indication of a role for EZH2 in prostate cancer was based on the observation that EZH2 overexpression is associated with worse progression of prostate cancer (5).…”