Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026

Quantification of Immunostained Caspase-9 in Retinal Tissue
Published on: July 25, 2022
Loss of caspase 7 expression is associated with poor prognosis in renal cell carcinoma clear cell subtype
Santiago A Vilella-Arias1, Rafael Malagoli Rocha, Walter Henriques da Costa
1Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Objective:
To investigate the expression of CASP7 protein in renal cell carcinoma clear cell subtype (ccRCC) and its value to predict cancer-specific survival (CSS).
Methods:
A tissue microarray containing 120 samples of ccRCC, 45 non-ccRCC, and 66 nontumor paired samples from patients who underwent partial or radical nephrectomy was hybridized with anti-CASP7 antibody. Tissue sections were scored according to intensity and the percentage of stained cells. CASP7 immunostaining scores were used to estimate the association with clinicopathologic parameters and calculate Kaplan-Meier survival curves.
Results:
Reduced CASP7 expression was observed in ccRCC and non-ccRCC subtypes in comparison with nontumor renal tissues (P <.0001). CASP7 immunostaining was associated (P <.05) with clinicopathologic parameters (size, incidental tumor, clinical stage, renal vein invasion, and tumor necrosis) and correlated with CSS (P = .032) and global survival (P = .046) of patients with ccRCC. In addition, CASP7 expression was able to substratify patients with ccRCC with favorable prognosis according to low clinical stage, in which negative CASP7 staining was associated with patients with lower CSS (P = .045). Finally, CASP7 staining was able to provide significant stratification according to CSS (P = .018) among patients with ccRCC with disease relapse.
Conclusion:
Our results implicate the loss of CASP7 expression in the aggressiveness of ccRCC and indicate its potential use as a clinical prognostic marker of the disease.
Related Concept Videos
Caspases
The Retinoblastoma Gene
The first-ever tumor suppressor gene called Rb was identified in retinoblastoma - a rare eye tumor in children. In inherited forms of the disease, a child inherits one defective copy of the Rb gene, which predisposes them to retinoblastoma. However,...
Loss of Tumor Suppressor Gene Functions
When the tumor suppressor genes develop mutations or are lost, cells start growing out of control, leading to cancer. However, a single functional copy of the tumor suppressor gene is enough for the cells to maintain their normal functions and cell...
The Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
The Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway