Omenai Sebastian A, Ebili Henry O, Ezenkwa Uchenna S, Ale Ayotunde O, Akintola Patrick A, Adetona Adesoji E, Akunwata Chima U, Mashor Mbwas I, Nwanji Ifeanyichukwu D, Iyapo Oluwadamilare, Ezekekwu Chinedu A, Akulue John C, Chidozie Ngozi, Nwadiokwu Ifeanyi J
Department of Anatomical Pathology, Edo State University, Iyamho Uzairue, Nigeria.
Morbid Anatomy and Histopathology Department, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Porto Biomed J. 2025 Feb 17;10(1):e280. doi: 10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000280. eCollection 2025 Jan-Feb.
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common malignancy in men. Geography and environmental factors have been associated with varying incidence and mortalities in different groups. Vitamin D has antiproliferative effect on PCa cells, and its effect is mediated through vitamin D receptor (VDR). This study reported the correlation of VDR expression with some clinicopathological and biological features among a cohort of patients with PCa.
Genomic and clinicopathological data of 497 patients with PCa reposited in The Cancer Genome Atlas were retrieved using Linux command in running codes and scripts and extrapolated onto SPSS version 28 for statistical analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted to determine the proportions and associations of VDR expression with genomic variables and clinicopathological indices. The mechanism of VDR dysregulation was also interrogated.
Our results showed that high VDR expression was positively correlated with a high Gleason score ( < 0.001), poorer prognostic International Society of Urological Pathology grade groups ( < 0.001), advanced tumor stage ( = 0.01), and poorer response to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Age, race, and overall and disease-free survival did not show any correlation with VDR expression ( > 0.05). Furthermore, the major mechanism of dysregulation of VDR in PCa was by aberrant methylation of the VDR promoter region ( < 0.001), and not by copy number alterations ( = 0.42).
VDR expression is associated with adverse clinicopathological indices, including late-stage disease profile, high-grade indices, and poorer response to ADT. VDR is also mainly deregulated by aberrant epigenetic mechanism. The study is limited by absence of some clinical information such as sunlight exposure.
前列腺癌（PCa）是男性中最常见的恶性肿瘤。地理和环境因素与不同群体中发病率和死亡率的差异有关。维生素D对PCa细胞具有抗增殖作用，其作用通过维生素D受体（VDR）介导。本研究报告了一组PCa患者中VDR表达与一些临床病理和生物学特征的相关性。
使用运行代码和脚本中的Linux命令检索存储在癌症基因组图谱中的497例PCa患者的基因组和临床病理数据，并将其外推到SPSS 28版进行统计分析。进行描述性和推断性统计以确定VDR表达与基因组变量和临床病理指标的比例及关联。还探讨了VDR失调的机制。
我们的结果表明，高VDR表达与高Gleason评分（<0.001）、预后较差的国际泌尿病理学会分级组（<0.001）、晚期肿瘤分期（=0.01）以及对雄激素剥夺治疗（ADT）的反应较差呈正相关。年龄、种族以及总生存期和无病生存期与VDR表达均无相关性（>0.05）。此外，PCa中VDR失调的主要机制是VDR启动子区域的异常甲基化（<0.001），而非拷贝数改变（=0.42）。
VDR表达与不良临床病理指标相关，包括疾病晚期特征、高级别指标以及对ADT的反应较差。VDR也主要通过异常表观遗传机制失调。本研究因缺乏一些临床信息（如阳光照射情况）而受到限制。
