Data from Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 Predicts Cancer-Free Survival in Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma Patients

Abstract

<div>Abstract<p><b>Purpose:</b> Vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM1) is a cell surface glycoprotein implicated in various pathophysiologic conditions. We measured <i>VCAM1</i> expression levels in tumor tissues and evaluated its significance and prognostic use in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).</p><p><b>Experimental Design:</b> We used real-time quantitative PCR to examine the <i>VCAM1</i> expression levels of a total of 485 sporadic renal tumors, including 429 clear cell, 21 papillary, 17 chromophobe, 11 oncocytomas, and 7 collecting duct carcinomas. We retrospectively examined the relationship of this expression to various clinicopathologic variables and the <i>von Hippel-Lindau</i> alteration status. We evaluated its significance with respect to patient survival rates using the Cox regression model combined with the split-sample method.</p><p><b>Results:</b> Compared with normal kidney samples (<i>n</i> = 43), <i>VCAM1</i> was significantly up-regulated in clear cell RCC and papillary RCC, whereas it was down-regulated in chromophobe RCC and oncocytoma. In clear cell RCC, <i>VCAM1</i> expression levels were apparently high in patients asymptomatic at presentation and in patients with small tumor size, low-stage, low-grade, microvascular invasion–negative, and <i>von Hippel-Lindau</i> alteration-positive tumors. Univariate analyses showed that <i>VCAM1</i> high expression is strongly associated with better outcomes in clear cell and papillary RCCs. Further, Cox multivariate analysis models combined with the split-sample method revealed that this association is significant only in cancer-free survival for patients with clear cell RCC after curative surgical resection.</p><p><b>Conclusions:</b><i>VCAM1</i> expression levels were found to be histologically subtype specific in renal tumors. Determination of the <i>VCAM1</i> expression level as a biomarker can provide useful prognostic information for patients with clear cell RCC.</p></div>