title: L-type amino acid transporter 1 expression is highly correlated with Gleason score in prostate cancer.
abstract: Upregulation of L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1), a member of the system L amino acid transporter family, may be detected by immunohistochemical methods. Immunoreactive LAT1 expression in prostate cancer is considered to be a promising biomarker for high-grade malignancy. However, the mutual association between LAT1 and Gleason score, the most fixed indicator for grading the malignancy of prostate cancers, remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to clarify the correlations between LAT1 and other factors in prostate cancer, including the Gleason score. We evaluated 54 cases of primary prostate cancer, surgically resected without any neoadjuvant therapies and performed immunohistochemistry for LAT1, Ki-67, CD34 and vascular endothelial growth factor on the tissue sections. The Gleason score as well as the age, pathological stage (pStage) of prostate cancer and serum concentration of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) of each case were also assessed. Statistical analysis for the correlations between LAT1 expression and Gleason score and each of the other characteristics studied was performed. As a result, a strong significant correlation between immuno-reactive LAT1 expression and Gleason score was identified (P<0.01). We concluded that immunoreactive LAT1 expression in tissue sections of prostate cancer may be useful as a biomarker for high-grade malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8512; ; Department of Pathology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293;
authors.forename: Atsuki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Segawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Bio-system Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Shushi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagamori
authors.affiliation: Division of Bio-system Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshikatsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanai
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293;
authors.forename: Nobuhide
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Masawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8512;
authors.forename: Tetsunari
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oyama
keywords: Gleason score; L-type amino acid transporter 1; biomarker; immunohistochemistry; prostate cancer