Increased expression of 5-lipoxygenase is common in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

The clinical behaviour of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (CC-RCC) is often unpredictable. To fully understand the signaling pathways involved in CC-RCC development, we examined whether the 5-Lipoxygenase (5-LO), which catalyzes the biosynthesis of proinflammatory leukotrienes, is involved in renal tumorigenesis. By analyzing 46 snap-frozen primary renal cell carcinomas and their corresponding normal renal cortex biopsies, 5-LO protein levels were found to be significantly increased in the majority of CC-RCCs (P<0.001). Quantitative 5-LO mRNA expression analysis revealed up to 3-fold increased expression in the tumor tissues. There was no association between 5-LO and gender, grade or vein invasion. In contrast, increased 5-LO protein and mRNA correlated with large tumor size (>4 cm) and age of patients (P<0.001). 5-LO was frequently overexpressed in von Hippel-Lindau protein (pVHL)-reduced tumors and in Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-positive tumors, which represent two frequent alterations in CC-RCC. Cell culture experiments demonstrated that VEGF expression was strongly inducible by 5-LO metabolites in RCC cell lines. The loss of pVHL expression led to high basal 5-LO and VEGF expression, which were markedly reduced by transfection with 5-LO small interfering RNA (siRNA). These results suggest that 5-LO up-regulation is an important step in renal cancer progression.