title: High c-MET expression is frequent but not associated with early PSA recurrence in prostate cancer.
abstract: c-MET is considered a possible therapeutic target in numerous tumor types and is also a candidate regulator of response to anti-HER2 and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and clinical significance of c-MET expression in hormone-naïve prostate cancers. A pre-existing prostate tissue microarray (TMA) containing samples of 4,177 patients treated by radical prostatectomy was used. A total of 3,378 different prostate cancers were successfully analyzed for c-MET expression by immunohistochemistry and follow-up data were available for 4,104 patients. Membranous c-MET immunostaining was performed for 2,655 (78.6%) tumors. High c-MET protein expression was significantly associated with a high Gleason grade (P=0.0018). However, c-MET was not a prognostic marker for biochemical recurrence. c-MET levels were also not associated with other parameters, including tumor stage, nodal stage and surgical margin status. The c-MET protein is often overexpressed in prostate cancer, but has no prognostic relevance. However, the frequent presence of high levels of membranous c-MET protein in prostate cancer cells makes c-MET an attractive target for imaging and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology;
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Sharad Nouraie
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Ashtiani
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tennstedt
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Heinzer
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sauter
authors.forename: Hüseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sirma
authors.forename: Maria Christina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tsourlakis
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Minner
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schlomm
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Michl