Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22492389›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2012

Loss of epithelial membrane protein-2 expression confers an independent prognosticator in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a cohort study.

Yi-Hsien Chen, Li-Ching Wu, Wen-Ren Wu, Hung-Jung Lin, Sung-Wei Lee, Ching-Yih Lin, Shih-Lun Chang, Nan-Haw Chow, Hsuan-Ying Huang, Chien-Feng Li and 2 more

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Article in BMJ open, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. A recurrent de novo damaging variant inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Yi-Hsien ChenDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan.
Li-Ching Wu
Wen-Ren Wu
Hung-Jung Lin
Sung-Wei Lee
Ching-Yih Lin
Shih-Lun Chang
Nan-Haw Chow
Hsuan-Ying Huang
Chien-Feng Li
Han-Ping Hsu
Yow-Ling Shiue

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo evaluate the expression of epithelial membrane protein-2 (EMP2) protein and its clinicopathological associations in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

designRetrospective population-based cohort study.

settingThis study was based on a biobank in Chi-Mei Medical Center (Tainan, Taiwan) from 1993 to 2002.

participantsBiopsies of 124 consecutive nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients without initial distant metastasis and treated with consistent guidelines were assessed. Immunoexpressions of EMP2 were analysed and the outcomes were correlated with clinicopathological features and patient survivals. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Immunoexpressions of EMP2 were analyzed and the outcomes were correlated with clinicopathological features and patient survivals.

resultsLoss of EMP2 expression (49.2%) was correlated with advanced primary tumour (p=0.044), nodal status (p=0.045) and the 7th American Joint Committee on Cancer stage (p=0.027). In multivariate analyses, loss of EMP2 expression emerged as an independent prognosticator for worse disease-specific survival (DSS; p=0.015) and local recurrence-free survival (LRFS; p=0.030), along with the American Joint Committee on Cancer stages III-IV (p=0.034, DSS; p=0.023, LRFS).

conclusionsLoss of EMP2 expression is common and associated with adverse prognosticators and might confer tumour aggressiveness through hampering its interaction with specific membrane protein(s) and hence the downstream signal transduction pathway(s).

Identifiers

PMID22492389
PMCPMC3323806

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