ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To investigate gene rearrangement and protein expression of ETS related gene (ERG ) in prostate cancer of Chinese patients and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. METHODS: This study collected 482 cases of prostatic adenocarcinomas diagnosed by prostate biopsy in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from 2009 to 2014. Fluorescencein situ hybridization (FISH) and immuno-histochemical staining (IHC) were performed to access the ERG rearrangement and protein expression respectively. Relationship between ERG rearrangement and protein expression was assessed by Spearman rank order correlation. The correlations of ERG rearrangement and protein expression with clinicopathological variables and prognosis were further analyzed. RESULTS: ERG rearrangement was detected in 87 (18.0 %) cases, of which 45 (51.7%) was translocation and 42 (48.3%) was deletion. ERG protein expression was detected in 74 (15.4%) cases. Follow-up data was obtained in 368 cases. ERG rearrangement and protein expression had no correlations to age, Gleason score and pre-operation PSA level ( P>0.05), but ERG protein level was decreased in metastatic cases or castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cases ( P<0.05) . Kaplan-Meier curve showed both gene rearrangement and protein expression of ERG had no prognostic significance. CONCLUSIONS: ERG rearrangement, as well as ERG protein expression, could not serve as an independent prognostic biomarker.
