Smarcc1 expression: A significant predictor of disease-specific survival in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer treated with no intention to cure

Abstract

Objective. The clinical outcome of prostate cancer (PC) is extremely variable and therefore difficult to predict at the early stage of the disease. Since curative-intended therapies are bound up with the risk of severe adverse events, identification of new prognostic markers in PC is essential in individualized clinical treatment. The Smarcc1 protein, a part of the intranuclear SWI/SNF complex, is up-regulated in PC, and has been suggested to be implicated in tumour dedifferentiation, progression and biochemical recurrence. This makes Smarcc1 a possible candidate marker for PC survival. Material and methods. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure protein expression levels of Smarcc1in on a tissue microarray containing specimens from 100 patients suffering from clinically localized PC treated with no intention to cure and followed to death. Results. The median age at diagnosis was 75.5 years (55–95 years) and the median survival time was 5 years (0.01–15 years). In total, 41 patients (41%) died of PC. Statistically, there was no significant association between Smarcc1 immunostaining (negative/positive) and Gleason score (p = 0.7/0.8) or the clinical T stage (p = 0.9). Positive staining for Smarcc1 in patients with clinically localized PC correlated with a prolonged disease-free survival as opposed to negative staining (p = 0.025). Conclusion. In patients with clinically localized PC treated without intention of cure, Smarcc1 expression was a statistically significant and independent predictor of disease-specific survival.

Key Words::

• Cancer
• prostate
• Smarcc1
• survival

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.