Figure 1.

SFRP2 mRNA expression is increased in pancreatic cancer. (A) SFRP2 mRNA levels were compared between 32 cancer types in the TCGA database. Pancreatic cancer had the highest SFRP2 median expression levels. (B) The online interactive tool GEPIA was used to compare SFRP2 mRNA levels between pancreatic cancer samples ($n=$ 179) from the RNAseq TCGA database, and normal pancreas samples ($n=$ 177) from the RNAseq GTex database. SFRP2 mRNA levels were significantly higher in pancreatic adenocarcinoma samples, compared to normal pancreas samples (^*p< 0.01). (C) GEPIA was used to compare disease-free survival between patients with high SFRP2 mRNA levels ($n=$ 89), and low SFRP2 RNA levels ($n=$ 36) using the Kaplan-Meier method. High SFRP2 expression was associated with significantly worse disease-free survival (hazard ratio $=$ 2.6; $p=$ 0.0097). HR: Hazard ratio. (D)SFRP2 and FZD5 protein levels were measured by western blot on lysates from pancreatic cancer cell lines (AsPC-1, MIA-PaCa2, and Panc02-luc) and compared to a known positive control, SVR (angiosarcoma cells), and negative controls (PBS and media). Band densities (average intensity x band surface) were normalized to the loading control to eliminate inter-sample variability to obtain the Intensity Ration. Results were normalized to the positive control, SVR.