title: Loss of CDKN1B/p27Kip1 expression is associated with ERG fusion-negative prostate cancer, but is unrelated to patient prognosis.
abstract: The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27Kip1 has been suggested as a prognostic marker in prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical and prognostic role of p27 expression in hormone-naive prostate cancers. A tissue microarray containing samples from 4,699 prostate cancers with attached pathological, clinical follow-up and molecular data was analyzed for nuclear p27 expression by immunohistochemistry. p27 staining was negative in 18.6%, weak in 33.5%, moderate in 28.4% and strong in 19.5% of 3,701 interpretable cancer spots. Loss of p27 immunostaining was linked to tumors of low Gleason grade (P<0.0001) and ERG fusion-negative cancers (P<0.0001). p27 levels were not associated with other parameters, including tumor stage, nodal stage, preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, surgical margin status and cell proliferation (as measured by the Ki67 labeling index). p27 expression was also unrelated to clinical outcome in all cancers, as well as in the subsets of ERG fusion-positive and -negative cancers. Overall, the present data demonstrated that elevated p27 expression was often unrelated to prostate cancer phenotype. Furthermore, the lack of an effect of the p27 protein levels on PSA recurrence following radical prostatectomy indicated that factors other than p27 expression are likely to be the major determinants of prostate cancer recurrence. However, a subset of ERG-negative, low-grade tumors was frequently characterized by loss of p27, suggesting a role of this alteration for the development of these tumors.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, Prostate Cancer Center and Section for Translational Prostate Cancer Research at Clinic of Urology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg D-20246, Germany.
authors.forename: Hüseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sirma
authors.forename: Margarethe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Broemel
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stumm
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsourlakis
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Steurer
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tennstedt
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salomon
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Michl
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haese
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sauter
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schlomm
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Minner
keywords: ERG fusion; p27; prostate cancer