A novel marker ADAM17 for clear cell renal cell carcinomas: implication for patients' prognosis.

INTRODUCTION

A disintegrin and metalloproteinase-17 (ADAM17) plays an important role in biological activity in different cancers. Its expression and prognostic value have not been studied in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (cRCC). The objective of this study was to explore the prognostic value of ADAM17 in patients with cRCC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 131 patients with cRCC were studied. There were 90 men and 41 women, with an average age of 67 years (range: 34-93 y). There were 110 patients with localized disease and 21 patients with metastatic disease. The expression of ADAM17 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry with a monoclonal antibody. The follow-up varied from 4.2 to 184 months, with a median of 72 months for patients with localized disease. Kaplan-Meier with a log-rank test was performed to compare the progression-free survival after surgery. The univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine the significance of ADAM17 expression for the patient's progression-free survival.

RESULTS

The ADAM17 expression was found in 109/131 tumors. The ADAM17 expression was found in 20/21 metastatic tumors and in 89/110 localized tumors. Regarding patients with localized tumors, 31 patients experienced a recurrence or death during follow-up. The Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the high expression of ADAM17 was associated with a reduced progression-free survival (P = 0.005). The univariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the high expression of ADAM17 was associated with the disease progression (hazard ratio = 2.826; 95% CI: 1.324-6.034; P = 0.007). The high expression of ADAM17 remained a significant factor for decreased progression-free survival in multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION

ADAM17 was frequently expressed in cRCC. The high expression of ADAM17 was correlated with a worse outcome for patients with cRCC. ADAM17 is a new biomarker for the management of patients with cRCC.