High Expression of CDK1 and BUB1 Predicts Poor Prognosis of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Background: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death. Increasing evidence suggests that cell cycle dysregulation is one of the hallmarks of cancer. In this study, by using the GEO database, we predicted the cell cycle-related protein CDK1 and BUB1 to be significantly overexpressed in PDAC tissues. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the clinical pathological significance of CDK1 and BUB1 in PDAC.

Methods: To explore the role of CDK1 and BUB1 in PDAC progression and evaluate their prognostic value, we investigated the expression patterns of CDK1 and BUB1 by using immunohistochemical staining in 99 PDAC and 71 normal pancreatic tissues with complete pathological parameters and survival data.

Results: CDK1 and BUB1 were significantly overexpressed in PDAC tissues. The expression of CDK1 was correlated with tumor size and histological grade, and the expression of BUB1 was correlated with the tumor size of PDAC. With regard to survival, a high expression of either CDK1 or BUB1 was correlated with a short survival of PDAC patients. Additionally, PDAC patients with a concurrent high expression of CDK1 and BUB1 showed the shortest survival.

Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that CDK1 and BUB1 may play a role in PDAC progression and could be prognostic biomarkers for PDAC patients.