Background: Epithelial membrane protein 3 (EMP3), was recently reported to be a tumor suppressor gene for several solid tumors, and is drawing attention as a novel prognostic marker, since its expression level or hypermethylation of the promoter region is associated with clinical prognosis in neuroblastoma and esophageal cancer. However, some controversial data were also observed in gliomas and breast cancers, and there seems to be more than deletion/hypermethylation to its silencing mechanisms.
Objective: To clarify the discrepancies in the biological behavior of EMP3 among the different organ-derived malignancies or histologies and validate the potential of EMP3 as a tumor suppressor for solid tumors.
Methods: Literature dealing with EMP3 in the PubMed database was reviewed.
Results/conclusions: EMP3 is a novel tumor suppressor gene in some kinds of malignancies, but not all, at the step of cellular immortalization rather than carcinogenesis. It may become a potent prognostic marker and a therapeutic target in such tumors.