Prognostic Value of HPV E6 and APOBEC3B in Upper Urinary Tract Urothelial Carcinoma

APOBEC mutation signature is common in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). When virus infection occurs, upregulated APOBEC plays an antiviral role by deoxycytidine deaminase activity. However, the carcinogenic roles of HPV E6 protein and APOBEC mutation signature in UTUC have not been investigated.

This study explored the relationship among HPV E6, APOBEC, and clinicopathological characteristics in patients with UTUC and impacts of their expression on the prognosis.

The expression of HPV E6 and APOBEC3B of 78 patients with UTUC was detected by immunohistochemistry. Correlation of HPV E6 and APOBEC3B expression levels with clinicopathological characteristics was statistically analyzed. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate the prognosis of HPV E6 and APOBEC3B for disease-free survival (DFS); survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier methods.

The expression of APOBEC3B was positively correlated with the expression of HPV E6 (r = 0.383, P = 0.001). HPV E6 was significantly increased in patients with stage I (χ ² = 4.938, P = 0.026) and low-grade urothelial carcinoma (χ ² = 3.939, P = 0.047), as well as in patients without LVI (χ ² = 4.064, P = 0.044). Meanwhile, APOBEC3B was highly expressed in patients with stage I (χ ² = 4.057, P = 0.044) and low-grade urothelial carcinoma (χ ² = 7.153, P = 0.007). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed the APOBEC3B expression was the independent prognostic factor for DFS, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that low expression of APOBEC3B and HPV E6 was significantly associated with the poor prognosis of UTUC patients.

HPV E6 expression is positively associated with APOBEC3B expression, and the high expression of HPV E6 and APOBEC3B is associated with favorable prognosis of patients with UTUC.