Reduced expression of alpha-tocopherol-associated protein is associated with tumor cell proliferation and the increased risk of prostate cancer recurrence / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

ABSTRACT

<p><b>AIM</b>To examine the impact and prognostic significance of alpha-tocopherol associated protein (TAP) expression in a series of prostate cancer patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Tissues from 87 patients underwent radical prostatectomy were examined for TAP expression by immunohistochemistry. The relationships of the staining results, the clinic pathological characteristics and the recurrence times were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the adjacent areas of normal and benign glands, immunoreactivity of TAP was reduced in areas of prostate cancer. A lower TAP-positive cell number per mm(2) of the largest cancer area (defined as TAP-PN) was associated with higher clinical stage (r = -0.248, P = 0.0322). Inverse associations were found among the TAP-PN and positive lymph nodes (r = -0.231, P = 0.0325), preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels (r = -0.423, P = 0.0043), tumor size (r= -0.315, P= 0.0210) and elevated tumor cell proliferation, which was indicated by the staining of Ki-67 (r = -0.308, P = 0.0026). TAP-PN was a significant predictor of recurrence univariately (P = 0.0006), as well as multivariately, adjusted for known markers including preoperative PSA, clinical stage, Gleason score, surgical margin, extra-prostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.0012).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Reduced expression of TAP was associated with the cell proliferation status of prostate cancer, adverse pathological parameters and the increased risk of recurrence.</p>