High CHI3L1 expression is associated with glioma patient survival.
BACKGROUND
Survival of glioma patients with the same tumor histology and grade can vary significantly, and some low-grade gliomas transform to a more malignant phenotype. There is a need of molecular signatures, which are better predictors of the patient diagnosis, outcome of treatment, and prognosis than the diagnosis provided by histopathology. We propose CHI3L1 mRNA expression as a prognostic biomarker for patients with glioma.


METHODS
We measured CHI3L1 expression with quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in the cohort of 98 patients with different grade glioma: 10 grade I pylocytic astrocytomas, 30 grade II diffuse astrocytomas, 20 grade III anaplastic astrocytomas, and 38 grade IV astrocytomas (glioblastomas). Statistical analyses were conducted to investigate the association between CHI3L1 mRNA expression levels and patient clinical variables.


RESULTS
We demonstrated that mRNA expression of CHI3L1 was evidently higher in glioblastoma than in lower grade glioma tissues. We evaluated correlations between CHI3L1 expression, clinicopathological characteristics, and the outcomes of the patients. Patients with high CHI3L1 expression had a shorter overall survival (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Findings presented in our study showed that increased mRNA level of CHI3L1 could be associated with the progression of astrocytoma and poor patient survival not only for glioblastoma, but for lower grade astrocytoma tumors as well. Further investigation will be required to evaluate CHI3L1 value as a molecular marker for astrocytoma prognoses and for novel treatment strategies against all grade astrocytomas.
Laboratory of Neurooncology and Genetics, Neuroscience Institute, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, Kaunas, LT-50009, Lithuania.
Giedrius
G
Steponaitis
Laboratory of Neurooncology and Genetics, Neuroscience Institute, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, Kaunas, LT-50009, Lithuania.
Daina
D
Skiriutė
Laboratory of Neurooncology and Genetics, Neuroscience Institute, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, Kaunas, LT-50009, Lithuania.
Arunas
A
Kazlauskas
Laboratory of Neurooncology and Genetics, Neuroscience Institute, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, Kaunas, LT-50009, Lithuania.
Ieva
I
Golubickaitė
Laboratory of Neurooncology and Genetics, Neuroscience Institute, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, Kaunas, LT-50009, Lithuania.
Rytis
R
Stakaitis
Laboratory of Neurooncology and Genetics, Neuroscience Institute, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, Kaunas, LT-50009, Lithuania.
Arimantas
A
Tamašauskas
Laboratory of Neurooncology and Genetics, Neuroscience Institute, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, Kaunas, LT-50009, Lithuania. paulina.vaitkiene@gmail.com.
Paulina
P
Vaitkienė
D054392:Adipokines / Q000235:genetics*; D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000071451:Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005910:Glioma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D037102:Lectins / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation
D054392:Adipokines; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C084533:CHI3L1 protein, human; D000071451:Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1; D037102:Lectins; D012333:RNA, Messenger
Astrocytoma; CHI3L1; Chitinase 3-like 1; Glioma; Survival; YKL-40; mRNA