Prominin-1 (CD133) is one of the most commonly used markers for cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are characterized by their ability for self-renewal and tumorigenicity. However, the clinical and prognostic significance of CSCs in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression patterns and prognostic significance of the cancer stem cell marker CD133 in different histological subtypes of RCC. CD133 expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry in 193 well-defined renal tumor samples on tissue microarrays, including 136 (70.5%) clear cell renal cell carcinomas (CCRCCs), 26 (13.5%) papillary RCCs, and 31 (16.1%) chromophobe RCCs. The association between CD133 expression and clinicopathological features as well as the survival outcomes was determined. There was a statistically significant difference between CD133 expression among the different RCC subtypes. In CCRCC, higher cytoplasmic expression of CD133 was significantly associated with increase in grade, stage, microvascular invasion (MVI) and lymph node invasion (LNI), while no association was found with the membranous expression. Moreover, on multivariate analysis, TNM stage and nuclear grade were independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in cytoplasmic expression. We showed that higher cytoplasmic CD133 expression was associated with more aggressive tumor behavior and more advanced disease in CCRCC but not in the other examined subtypes. Our results demonstrated that higher cytoplasmic CD133 expression is clinically significant in CCRCC and is associated with increased tumor aggressiveness and is useful for predicting cancer progression.
Experimental and molecular pathology. 2017 Oct 16 [Epub ahead of print]
Leili Saeednejad Zanjani, Zahra Madjd, Maryam Abolhasani, Yvonne Andersson, Arezoo Rasti, Ahmad Shariftabrizi, Mojgan Asgari
Oncopathology Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran., Oncopathology Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran; Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: ., Oncopathology Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran; Hasheminejad Kidney Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran., Department of Tumor Biology, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway., Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14223, USA., Oncopathology Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran; Hasheminejad Kidney Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: .