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. 2016 Jun;1(Suppl 2):015.
doi: 10.4172/2155-9929.S2-015. Epub 2016 May 20.

Circulating Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (Fgf21) as Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker in Renal Cancer

M E Knott  1 , J N Minatta  2 , L Roulet  2 , G Gueglio  2 , L Pasik  1 , S M Ranuncolo  1 , M Nuñez  3 , L Puricelli  1 , M S De Lorenzo  4
Affiliations

Circulating Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (Fgf21) as Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker in Renal Cancer

M E Knott et al. J Mol Biomark Diagn. 2016 Jun.

Abstract

Background: The finding of new biomarkers is needed to have a better sub-classification of primary renal tumors (RCC) as well as more reliable predictors of outcome and therapy response. In this study, we evaluated the role of circulating FGF21, an endocrine factor, as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for ccRCC.

Materials and methods: Serum samples from healthy controls (HC), clear cell and chromophobe RCC cancer patients were obtained from the serum biobank "Biobanco Público de Muestras Séricas Oncológicas" (BPMSO) of the "Instituto de Oncología "Ángel H. Roffo". Serum FGF21 and leptin were measured by ELISA while other metabolic markers were measured following routinely clinical procedures.

Results: One of our major findings was that FGF21 levels were significantly increased in ccRCC patients compared with HC. Moreover, we showed an association between the increased serum FGF21 levels and the shorter disease free survival in a cohort of 98 ccRCC patients, after adjustment for other predictors of outcome.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that higher FGF21 serum level is an independent prognostic biomarker, associated with worse free-disease survival.

Keywords: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma; Prognosis biomarker; Serum fibroblast growth factor 21.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Association of the serum FGF21 levels with age (A) and gender (B) in the healthy control (HC) population.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Spearman's rank correlation between the serum FGF21 levels and metabolic parameters in the healthy control (HC) population.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Serum FGF21 levels in healthy controls (HC) and patient populations (ccRCC). (Kruskal Wallis test: p<0.0001). Md, median.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Serum FGF21 levels showed no association with the triglycerides levels. (Spearman's rank correlation test, NS).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Serum FGF21 levels among the different stages (I to IV) of the ccRCC patients. (Kruskal Wallis test, p=0.44).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Kaplan-Meier survival curve for the association between FGF21 serum levels and disease-free survival (DFS) for ccRCC patients. Patients were categorized as low-FGF21 and high-FGF21 expression groups according to the optimal cut-off value. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier analysis, with the differences between curves analyzed via a long-rank test (Log-Rank test: 3.28, p=0.07).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Decision tree analysis to determine the effect of relevant clinico-pathological parameters on disease free survival (DFS) of ccRCC. Variables are represented as nodes that sequentially split according to those with the highest effect on variation in data. S: Stage. For a better visualization only node I, II and III are shown.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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