Abstract
The dystroglycan (DG) complex is a transmembrane glycoprotein that forms a continuous link from the extracellular matrix to the actin cytoskeleton. Deregulated expression of DG has been reported in a variety of human malignancies and related to tumor aggressiveness. In this study expression of the DG subunit was evaluated by immunostaining in a series of renal epithelial cancers and its relation with traditional prognostic indicators and with the clinical outcome of the patients was evaluated. aDG expression was undetectable in a significant fraction of tumors (54%). In renal cell carcinomas (RCC) loss of a-DG staining correlated with higher tumor grade (p = 0.02) but not with tumor stage nor tumor size. In clear cell RCC patients loss of aDG staining correlated with an increased risk of recurrence (p = 0.002 by log-rank test) and death (p = 0.004) also when patients with lower grade or stage tumors were analyzed separately. In a multivariate analysis loss of DG staining confirmed to be and independent predictor of shorter disease-free (p = 0.001; RR = 4.9) and overall (p = 0.009; RR = 4.9) survival stronger than tumor grade and size. These findings demonstrate that loss of aDG expression, which correspond to loss of a functional DG complex, is a frequent event in human renal tumorigenesis and is an independent predictor of early recurrence and death for patients with clear cell RCC.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1840-1846 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Cancer Biology and Therapy |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2007 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Cell adhesion
- Clear cell renal cell carcinoma
- Dystroglycan
- Prognostic marker
- Renal cancer
- Survival analysis
- Tumorigenesis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Medicine
- Oncology
- Pharmacology
- Cancer Research