β1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V predicts recurrence and survival of patients with clear-cell renal cell carcinoma after surgical resection

Abstract

Purpose: β1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (MGAT5), which is required for the biosynthesis of β1,6GlcNAc-branched N-linked glycans attached to cell surface and secreted glycoproteins, accounts for oncogenic growth signal transduction during the development and progression of various malignancies. Our present study aimed to evaluate the impact of MGAT5 expression on recurrence and survival of patients with clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) following surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 265 patients (196 in the training cohort and 69 in the validation cohort) with ccRCC undergoing nephrectomy at a single institution. Clinicopathologic features, overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were recorded. MGAT5 intensities were assessed by immunohistochemistry in specimens of patients. Kaplan-Meier method was applied to compare survival curves. Cox regression models were used to analyze the impact of prognostic factors on OS and RFS. Concordance index (C-index) was calculated to assess predictive accuracy.

Results: In both cohorts, MGAT5 expression positively correlated with metastatic and advanced TNM stage. High MGAT5 expression indicated poor survival (P < 0.001 in training set and P < 0.001 in validation set) and early recurrence (P < 0.001 in training set and P = 0.004 in validation set) of patients with ccRCC. After multivariate Cox regression analysis, MGAT5 expression was identified as an independent adverse prognostic factor for survival and recurrence. The predictive accuracy of TNM, UISS and SSIGN prognostic models was improved when MGAT5 expression was added.

Conclusions: MGAT5 expression is a potential independent adverse prognostic biomarker for recurrence and survival of patients with ccRCC after nephrectomy.

Keywords: Clear-cell renal cell carcinoma; Overall survival; Prognostic biomarker; Recurrence-free survival; β1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V.