c-MET is considered a possible therapeutic target in numerous tumor types and is also a candidate regulator of response to anti-HER2 and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapy.
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and clinical significance of c-MET expression in hormone-naïve prostate cancers. A pre-existing prostate tissue microarray (TMA) containing samples of 4,177 patients treated by radical prostatectomy was used. A total of 3,378 different prostate cancers were successfully analyzed for c-MET expression by immunohistochemistry and follow-up data were available for 4,104 patients. Membranous c-MET immunostaining was performed for 2,655 (78.6%) tumors. High c-MET protein expression was significantly associated with a high Gleason grade (P=0.0018). However, c-MET was not a prognostic marker for biochemical recurrence. c-MET levels were also not associated with other parameters, including tumor stage, nodal stage and surgical margin status. The c-MET protein is often overexpressed in prostate cancer, but has no prognostic relevance. However, the frequent presence of high levels of membranous c-MET protein in prostate cancer cells makes c-MET an attractive target for imaging and treatment.
Written by:
Jacobsen F, Ashtiani SN, Tennstedt P, Heinzer H, Simon R, Sauter G, Sirma H, Tsourlakis MC, Minner S, Schlomm T, Michl U. Are you the author?
Institute of Pathology
Reference: Exp Ther Med. 2013 Jan;5(1):102-106
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23251249
