Decreased expression of NDRG1 in glioma is related to tumor progression and survival of patients

The aim of the study was to examine the expression of NDRG1 gene in glioma samples with different WHO grades and its association with survival. About 168 glioma specimens and 21 normal control tissues were collected. Immunochemistry assay, quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot analysis were carried out to investigate the expression of NDRG1 and Myc. Kaplan–Meier method and Cox’s proportional hazards model were used in survival analysis. Immunohistochemistry showed that Ndrg1 expression was reduced in glioma. NDRG1 mRNA and protein levels were lower in glioma compared to control on real-time PCR and Western blot analysis (P < 0.001). Its expression levels increase from grade IV to grade I glioma on real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry analysis (P < 0.001) and Western blot. On the contrary, the expression of Myc by real-time PCR and Western blot showed the opposite trend of NDRG1. The survival rate of Ndrg1-negative patients was lower than that of Ndrg1-positive patients. We confirmed that the loss of NDRG1 expression was a significant and independent prognostic indicator in glioma by multivariate analysis. NDRG1 may play an inhibitory role during the development of glioma and may be a potential prognosis predictor of glioma.