title: Is the clinical malignant phenotype of prostate cancer a result of a highly proliferative immune-evasive B7-H3-expressing cell population?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the expression of the cell surface protein B7-H3 in prostate cancer, and its association to clinically relevant parameters after radical prostatectomy and to the proliferation marker Ki-67.
  
  
  METHODS
  Radical prostatectomy specimens from a cohort of 130 patients with a median clinical follow up of 8 years were used for the analysis. The expression of B7-H3 and the proliferation marker Ki-67, as well as other standard clinicopathological parameters, were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A high expression of B7-H3 was associated with pathological stage T3a and T3b, high Gleason score, extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion and high proliferative activity. Univariable analysis showed that a high expression level of B7-H3 was also correlated with biochemical failure and clinical relapse, and with the expression of Ki-67. A high expression level of Ki-67 was associated with clinical progression and a tendency towards higher rates of prostate-specific antigen relapse in multivariate analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings show that a high expression level of B7-H3 in prostate cancer correlates with the expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67, biochemical failure and clinical relapse. Thus, expression of the cell surface molecule B7-H3 adds to the malignant phenotype of prostate cancer cells expressing high levels of Ki-67. The impact of B7-H3 function on prostate cancer and its potential role in immunotherapy should be explored further.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, endal, Norway.
authors.forename: Yishan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ljiljana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vlatkovic
authors.forename: Thorstein
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sæter
authors.forename: Einar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Servoll
authors.forename: Gudmund
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Waaler
authors.forename: Jahn M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nesland
authors.forename: Karl-Erik
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Giercksky
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Axcrona
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D060887:B7 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology; D011468:Prostatectomy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D060887:B7 Antigens; C423237:CD276 protein, human; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen