Perivascular PDGFR-β is an independent marker for prognosis in renal cell carcinoma.

Frödin M, Mezheyeuski A, Corvigno S, Harmenberg U, Sandström P, Egevad L, Johansson M, Östman A

Br. J. Cancer 116 (2) 195-201 [2017-01-17; online 2016-12-09]

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a highly vascularised tumour, where anti-angiogenic treatment with multi-tyrosine-kinase-inhibitor, is used for first-line treatment of metastatic disease. Variations in vascular characteristics are likely to contribute to variations in intrinsic aggressiveness of the disease. Emerging studies are identifying perivascular status, including perivascular PDGFR-β, as a determinant of prognosis in other tumour types. This work explored the impact on prognosis of vascular characteristics in RCC through analyses of a population-based collection of tumours from surgery-alone-treated patients. The quantitative data from a panel of vascular metrics were obtained through computerised image analysis of sections double-stained for expression of the endothelial cell marker CD34 together with perivascular markers α-SMA or PDGFR-β. Perivascular expression of PDGFR-β and α-SMA were positively correlated to each other, and negatively correlated to vessel density. High expression of PDGFR-β and α-SMA as well as low vessel density was significantly associated with short survival in uni- and multivariate analyses. Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the prognostic impact of the perivascular markers was particularly prominent in the T4-subgroup. A novel metric, related to PDGFR-β perivascular heterogeneity, was also associated with prognosis in uni-and multi-variate analyses. This novel metric also acted as a prognosis marker in ovarian cancer. The study demonstrates previously unrecognised associations between RCC survival and the absolute levels, and variability, of perivascular PDGFR-β. This marker should be further explored in other RCC cohorts. Findings also suggest mechanistic analyses and studies on the relationship between perivascular status and efficacy of multi-tyrosine-kinase-inhibitors.

Tissue Profiling [Service]

PubMed 27931046

DOI 10.1038/bjc.2016.407

Crossref 10.1038/bjc.2016.407

pii: bjc2016407
pmc: PMC5243993


Publications 9.5.0