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Updated: Jun 12, 2026
miRNA Expression Analyses in Prostate Cancer Clinical Tissues
Published on: September 8, 2015
The relationship between proangiogenic gene expression levels in prostate cancer and their prognostic value for
Ryutaro Mori1, Tanya B Dorff, Shigang Xiong
1Division of Medical Oncology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Background:
Androgens stimulate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) through activation of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF). These genes play a major role in cancer angiogenesis. This study assesses the relationship among expression levels for the androgen receptor (AR), HIF1a, VEGF-A, and VEGF-C genes in human prostate cancer tissue and their impact on prostate cancer outcomes. It also examines the impact of pre-operative androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) on the expression of these genes.
Methods:
Radical prostatectomy specimens were obtained from 138 patients with D1 prostate cancer from the University of Southern California prostatectomy database; 30% received pre-operative and 23% received post-operative ADT. Gene expression levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Specimens were stratified into three groups for each gene based on expression levels, and groups were compared for clinical outcomes (PSA and clinical recurrence, overall survival).
Results:
There was a significant correlation in expression levels amongst all genes. Patients treated with pre-operative ADT had significantly lower HIF1a expression, mean 2.64 (CI 2.34-2.94) than patients not treated, mean 3.25 (CI 2.97-3.53, P = 0.006), adjusting for age, PSA, Gleason score, and stage. Higher VEGF-A expression was significantly associated with better overall survival (HR 0.49, P = 0.015). The risk of developing clinical recurrence was significantly lower with higher VEGF-C expression (HR 0.4, P = 0.014).
Conclusions:
Significant correlation was noted among AR, HIF1a, VEGF-A, and VEGF-C. This study shows that ADT is associated with lower HIF1a gene expression in human prostate cancer tissue and documents prognostic value for VEGF-A and VEGF-C expression levels.
