Table 3 Snail1 expression in cancers (listed in alphabetical order)
Type of Cancer | Snail Expression | Change in expression over disease progression | Prognostic significance | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Bladder carcinoma | Inverse correlation with E-cadherin [130]; low expression level (only 16% of carcinoma tissues, n = 120)-Slug and Twist appear to be more important [140] | Increased expression in node-positive vs. node-negative tumors; 3 year progression free survival rate with positive Snail expression only 15% [140] | Snail expression associated with tumor recurrence; elevated expression is significant, independent prognostic factor [140],[141] | |
Breast carcinoma | None in normal breast epithelium; in 47% of IDCs (n = 17); none in ILCs (n = 4); expression correlates with lymph node metastases; not found in cells with constitutively inactive E-cadherin; expression opposes E-cadherin [128]; Snail overexpressed; Snail/E-cadherin ratio significantly higher [129] | Snail expression in IDCs (n = 17): grade 1-none; grade 2-more than half; grade 3-most [128] | Potential marker of IDC malignancy [128]; High expression correlated with shorter effusion-free, disease-free, and overall survival; correlated with lymph node metastases and high histologic grade (n = 16) [129] | |
Cervical carcinoma | Snail expressed in 94% of samples (n = 70) and ZEB-1 in 96%; nuclear expression of both correlates with advanced FIGO stage and lymph node metastasis; expression of Snail correlates with poor differentiation [153] | High Snail expression associated with late FIGO stage, lymph node metastasis, and poor differentiation [153] | Â | [153] |
Colorectal carcinoma | Inverse correlation with E-cadherin [130]; markedly high expression (78% of tested tumors, n = 59) of Snail; Snail-positive in older age group than Snail-negative (mean 58.9 vs. 49.8, n = 59) [138]; Snail expressed in all tested CRC cell lines (Western blot); expression increased migration and invasiveness; decreased E-cadherin; led to CSC-like phenotype and spindle morphology [139] | Increase in expression over disease progression: 15/23 stage III vs. 6/6 stage IV [138]; significantly higher rate of metastasis among Snail-expressing than Snail-negative [139] | Snail expression indicates high risk of distant metastases [138],[139] | |
Gastric carcinoma | Snail expression higher in diffuse than intestinal type [134]; inverse correlation with E-cadherin; significantly reduced E-cadherin expression; Snail expression more comparable to breast than ovarian carcinoma [129] | Overexpression associated with tumor size, depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, shortened survival [135] | Considered independent predictor of poor prognosis [135] | |
Hepatocellular carcinoma | Inverse correlation of mRNA and protein levels with E-cadherin (E-cadherin in Hep-G2 while Snail in HuL-1, Changliver, HLE, and HLF cells) [130]; Snail correlates with invasiveness and metastasis, Snail overexpression in 23% of cases (n = 47) [131] | Higher Snail expression in higher grade cases (n = 12) [132] | Risk factor for early recurrence (n = 47) [131]; Snail correlated with portal vein invasion, metastasis, poorer prognosis in recurrence-free survival [132] | |
Melanomas | High mRNA expression in all tested melanoma cell lines but not primary melanocytes; low E-cadherin in presence of Snail [142]; inverse correlation with E-cadherin [130]; Snail confers invasive and immunosuppressive properties [143] | Â | Â | |
Oral squamous carcinoma | Low E-cadherin/high Snail expression cells more invasive; E-cadherin positive had cuboidal shape and E-cadherin negative cells were spindle-shaped; inverse correlation with E-cadherin [136] | Â | Â | [136] |
Ovarian carcinoma | Less expressed than in breast carcinoma [129]; lower expression in effusions than primary tumors and solid metastases; mRNA levels not statistically different among the three; complete cytoplasmic localization in effusions [133] | Â | High E-cadherin expression correlated with disease-free survival; MMP-2 is considered a marker of poor prognosis; Snail associated with distant metastases [129] | |
Pancreatic carcinoma | Inverse correlation with E-cadherin [130]; significantly reduced E-cadherin expression [129]; 78% of tested tissues (n = 36, ductal adenocarcinoma) showed Snail expression; Snail higher in undifferentiated cell lines (MiaPaCa-2 and Panc-1) than differentiated (Capan-1, HPAF-2, AsPC-1) [137] | Â | Â | |
Prostate cancer | Significant loss of E-cadherin and syndecan 1 in high grades, along with high Snail; only nuclear localization in PC3 cell lines [151] | High Snail expression correlates with high Gleason grade, increased malignancy [151] | Â | [151] |
Synovial sarcoma | Snail mRNA found in all cases tested (n = 20), but E-cadherin mutations appear to be more important than Snail expression [144] | Â | Â | [144] |