GALNT4 Expression as a Prognostic Indicator in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

In a clinical study that included 104 patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma who were treated with curative nephrectomy, researchers sought to identify the clinical meaning of GALNT4 expression in patients with this disease.

Within the study, 23 patients died because of clear cell renal cell carcinoma, 33 had a disease recurrence, and 3 died of a cause other than their disease. The researchers assessed the density via immunohistochemistry in patient specimens. ROC analysis and multivariate and univariate Cox models analyzed the effect of prognostic factors as they related to relapse-free survival and overall survival.

Clinical outcomes between subgroups were compared with Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log rank test. Researchers found that intratumor GALNT4 expression was associated with poor relapse-free survival and overall survival (P=0.004 and 0.004, respectively) and was also significantly lower than peritumor expression. Intratumor GALNT4 expression has a negative correlation with tumor size (P=0.032), TNM stage (P=0.017), and necrosis (P=0.013) and is an independent prognostic indicator for overall and relapse-free survival.

In addition, researchers found that by extending the TNM staging system in accordance with GALNT4 expression there was a better prognostic value for relapse-free survival and overall survival. In summarizing their researcher, researchers have indicated that intratumor GALNT4 expression has the potential to be an independent prognostic factor for overall and relapse-free survival in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Researchers need to continue to externally validate and perform functional analysis in order to assess the potential prognostic and therapeutic value for patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma.