A 17-Gene Expression Signature for Early Identification of Poor Prognosis in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Maria Bassanelli; Marina Borro; Michela Roberto; Diana Giannarelli; Silvana Giacinti; Simona Di Martino; Anna Ceribelli; Andrea Russo; Annamaria Aschelter; Stefania Scarpino; Andrea Montori; Edoardo Pescarmona; Silverio Tomao; Maurizio Simmaco; Francesco Cognetti; Michele Milella; Paolo Marchetti

doi:10.3390/cancers14010178

A 17-Gene Expression Signature for Early Identification of Poor Prognosis in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Cancers (Basel). 2021 Dec 30;14(1):178. doi: 10.3390/cancers14010178.

Authors

Maria Bassanelli¹, Marina Borro², Michela Roberto³, Diana Giannarelli⁴, Silvana Giacinti⁵, Simona Di Martino⁶, Anna Ceribelli⁷, Andrea Russo⁶, Annamaria Aschelter⁵, Stefania Scarpino⁸, Andrea Montori⁸, Edoardo Pescarmona⁶, Silverio Tomao³, Maurizio Simmaco⁹, Francesco Cognetti¹⁰, Michele Milella¹¹, Paolo Marchetti¹²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00100 Rome, Italy.
² (DIMA) Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Sapienza University of Rome, 00187 Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Radiological, Oncological and Anatomo-Pathological Sciences, Medical Oncology Unit, Umberto I University Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy.
⁴ Clinical Trial Center, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Via Elio Chianesi, 53, 00144 Rome, Italy.
⁵ Department of Oncology, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 00187 Rome, Italy.
⁶ Department of Pathology, IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Via Elio Chianesi, 53, 00144 Rome, Italy.
⁷ Department of Oncology, San Camillo de Lellis Hospital, Viale Kennedy, 12100 Rieti, Italy.
⁸ Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Pathology Unit, St. Andrea University Hospital, University of Rome La Sapienza, 00187 Rome, Italy.
⁹ Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs (NESMOS), Advanced Molecular Diagnostic Unit (Dima), Sapienza University, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 00187 Rome, Italy.
¹⁰ Medical Oncology 1, IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, Via Elio Chianesi, 53, 00144 Rome, Italy.
¹¹ Division of Oncology, Integrated University Hospital of Verona, Via S. Francesco 22, 37129 Verona, Italy.
¹² Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Oncology Unit, Sant' Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, 00187 Rome, Italy.

Abstract

The Identification of reliable Biomarkers able to predict the outcome after nephrectomy of patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is an unmet need. The gene expression analysis in tumor tissues represents a promising tool for better stratification of ccRCC subtypes and patients' evaluation.

Methods: In our study we retrospectively analyzed using Next-Generation expression analysis (NanoString), the expression of a gene panel in tumor tissue from 46 consecutive patients treated with nephrectomy for non-metastatic ccRCC at two Italian Oncological Centres. Significant differences in expression levels of selected genes was sought. Additionally, we performed a univariate and a multivariate analysis on overall survival according to Cox regression model.

Results: A 17-gene expression signature of patients with a recurrence-free survival (RFS) < 1 year (unfavorable genomic signature (UGS)) and of patients with a RFS > 5 years (favorable genomic signature (FGS)) was identified and resulted in being significantly correlated with overall survival of the patients included in this analysis (HR 51.37, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: The identified Genomic Signatures may serve as potential biomarkers for prognosis prediction of non-metastatic RCC and could drive both follow-up and treatment personalization in RCC management.

Keywords: Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS); Next-Generation expression analysis (NanoString); biomarker; clear cell renal cancer cell (ccRCC); prognosis; recurrence.