RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of the expression of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) with the metastasis and prognosis of prostate cancer. METHODS: Prostate cancer PC3 cells were infected with VASP shRNA and control shRNA lentiviruses, respectively. The invasive ability of the PC3 cells was determined by transwell migration assay, the expression of VASP in the prostate cancer tissue from 56 patients was detected by immunohistochemistry, and the survival rate of the patients was analyzed according to the VASP expression levels and follow-up data after radical prostatectomy. RESULTS: VASP shRNA lentivirus significantly inhibited the expression of VASP and decreased the invasive ability of the PC3 cells as compared with the results obtained in the scramble shRNA and blank control groups (P<0.05). The survival analysis of the 56 prostate cancer patients showed that the time of biochemical recurrence was markedly shorter in the VASP positive and strongly positive groups than in the VASP-negative cases (P<0.05), but with no statistically significant difference between the former two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: VASP is involved in the regulation of the invasive ability of prostate cancer PC3 cells, and the differences in the VASP expression are related to the prognosis of prostate cancer.