Transglutaminase 4 has been shown to enhance various biological properties of prostate cancer cells, e.g., cell–matrix adhesion, invasiveness and the epithelial–mesenchymal transition. The objectives of this study were to investigate the associations between transglutaminase 4 expression and the established features and biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer. Transglutaminase 4 immunostaining was performed on a tissue microarray. The expression of transglutaminase 4 was evaluated by a scoring method based on the intensity and extent of staining. The clinical and pathological information was obtained through a review of medical records. Follow-up data were obtained by consulting the hospital medical records and the prostate cancer database of our department and by contacting patients or family members. We then compared the transglutaminase 4 expression levels between the prostate cancer tissues and the paracarcinoma tissues and evaluated the correlation of transglutaminase 4 expression with the clinical parameters and biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer. Our results indicated that the transglutaminase 4 staining was significantly higher in tumour tissue than in paracarcinoma tissue (P<0.001) and was positively associated with higher Gleason score (P<0.001) and higher prostate-specific antigen level (P=0.005). Patients with transglutaminase 4 overexpression experienced shorter biochemical recurrence-free survival after surgery (P=0.042) in the univariate analysis but not in the multivariate analysis (P=0.139), which indicated that transglutaminase 4 may serve as a potential predictor of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer.

Keywords: biochemical recurrence; prostate cancer; prostatectomy; tissue microarray; transglutaminase 4

PDF | PDF | 中文摘要 |