Relationship between TMPRSS2: ERG and the pathological grade of prostate cancer / 中华男科学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship between TMPRSS2 ERG gene fusion and the pathological grade of prostate cancer (PCa).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We collected fresh prostatic tissue samples from 62 patients with PCa and another 10 with benign prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH) and included 9 cancer cell strains as the control. We examined the TMPRSS2ERG fusion gene in the PCa samples by nest RT-PCR, compared the Gleason scores between the TMPRSS2ERG-positive and -negative cases, and analyzed the association of TMPRSS2 ERG fusion with the pathological features of PCa.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The TMPRSS2 ERG fusion gene was detected in 28 (45.16%) of the PCa cases, but in none of the 10 BPH cases or the 9 cancer cell strains. No statistically significant differences were found in the Gleason scores between the TMPRSS2ERG-positive and -negative cases (Z = -0.609, P = 0.542), but the primary Gleason score was markedly higher in the former than in the latter (Z = -2.600, P = 0.009). Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that TMPRSS2ERG was associated with the cribriform growth pattern (OR = 6.250, P = 0.002), foamy gland morphology (OR = 6.666, P = 0.023), and signet-ring cells (OR = 3.240, P = 0.035), but multivariate logistic regression analysis manifested that it was associated with the cribriform growth pattern only (OR = 3.750, P = 0.033).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>TMPRSS2ERG gene fusion was associated with higher pathological grades of prostate cancer.</p>