Clinical significance of nerve growth factor and tropomyosin-receptor-kinase signaling pathway in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

AIM:To investigate the correlation between nerve growth factor-tropomyosin-receptor-kinase(NGF-TrkA)signaling pathway and prognosis in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma(IHCC).METHODS:NGF and TrkA expression in 83 samples of IHCC was assessed by immunohistochemistry.Correlations between NGF-TrkA expression and clinicopathological features were analyzed byχ2 test.Moreover,we evaluated the association between NGF-TrkA and overall survival by univariate and multivariate analysis.With experiments in vitro,we investigated the crucial role of NGF-TrkA on proliferation and invasion of IHCC cells with recombinant NGF-βstimulation.RESULTS:We found that NGF and TrkA expression was significantly related with differentiation(P=0.024)and intraneural invasion(P=0.003),respectively.Additionally,double higher expression of NGF and TrkA was identified as an independent prognostic factor in IHCC(P=0.003).Moreover,we demonstrated that NGF-TrkA signaling pathway can promote IHCC proliferation and invasion.CONCLUSION:NGF-TrkA double higher expression is an independent prognostic factor in IHCC.NGF-TrkA pathway can promote IHCC progression,indicating that NGF-TrkA may become a potential drug target.