Abstract:       Background and purpose: The symptoms of pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PNENs) are complicated, that might lead to misdiagnosis. This study aimed to detect the expression level of DJ-1 in PNENs and explore the clinical significance of DJ-1 in PNENs. Methods: DJ-1 protien levels in the serum of 16 cases of PNENs patients and 25 cases of healthy persons were detected by ELISA analysis; The expressions of DJ-1 in 78 cases of PNENs tissues were detected by immunohistochemical staining. Results: The DJ-1 level in the serum of PNENs patients was significantly higher than healthy persons (36.19±6.71 vs 24.68±5.94 ng/mL; P<0.001); 53.8% (42/78) cases of PNENs tissues showed DJ-1 positive staining; DJ-1 expression level in PNENs tissues had significantly positive correlation with lymph node metastasis (P=0.033), distant metastasis (P=0.017), TNM stage (P=0.012), and pathology grade (P=0.049); As a dependent risk factor, DJ-1 expression was significantly associated with shorter OS (P=0.003) and DFS (P=0.018) of PNENs patients. Conclusion: High expression of DJ-1 protein correlated with invasion and metastasis, disease progression, and poor prognosis in PNEN.

Key words:   Pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms, DJ-1, Immunohistochemistry, Survival analysis