Protein Expression of NEK۲, JMJD۴, and REST in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (ccRCC): Clinical, Pathological, and Prognostic Findings

Background & Objective: Cells of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are resistant to the most currently used chemotherapeutic agents and targeted therapies; hence, we evaluated the expression of NEK۲, JMJD۴, and REST in tissues of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and benign nearby tissues of kidney with the aim of detecting associations between their expression and clinicopathological features, prognostic data, tumor recurrence, and survival rates.Methods: We collected ۲۰۰ samples from tumor and adjacent non-neoplastic tissues of ۱۰۰ ccRCC patients. All samples were evaluated for the expression of NEK۲, JMJD۴, and REST, and the patients were followed up for about ۵ years. Tumor recurrence and survival data were collected and analyzed.Results: NEK۲ and JMJD۴ expression was increased in ccRCC tissues (P=۰.۰۰۲ and ۰.۰۰۶), while REST was downregulated (P<۰.۰۰۱). The elevated expression of NEK۲ was positively related with big tumor size (P=۰.۰۱۵), higher grades (P=۰.۰۰۲), higher stages (P=۰.۰۱۳), distant spread (P=۰.۰۰۴), tumor recurrence, shorter progression-free survival (PFS) rate, and overall survival (OS) rate (P<۰.۰۰۱). Likewise, the high expression of JMJD۴ was positively related with big tumor size (P=۰.۰۴۷), higher grades (P=۰.۰۰۳), higher stages (P=۰.۰۴۳), distant spread (P=۰.۰۰۱), tumor recurrence, shorter PFS rate, and OS rate (P<۰.۰۰۱). Conversely, Low expression of REST was positively related to big tumor size, higher grades, higher stages, distant spread, tumor recurrence, and shorter PFS and OS rates (P<۰.۰۰۱).Conclusion: We demonstrated that overexpression of NEK۲ and JMJD۴ and downregulation of REST were found in malignant than benign renal tissues and were related to unfavorable pathological findings, poor clinical parameters, and poor patient outcomes.

Keywords:

JMJD۴ , NEK۲ , Prognosis , Renal cell carcinoma , REST