Anillin actin-binding protein expression correlates with poor prognosis for prostate cancer patients

Octamer transcription factor 1 (OCT1), a transcription factor that interacts with androgen receptor, is involved in prostate cancer (PCa) progression. The OCT1 target gene, Anillin actin-binding protein (ANLN), is highly expressed in castration-resistant PCa tissue; however, it remains unclear whether ANLN expression in hormone-sensitive PCa tissue could be used as a predictive biomarker for poor prognosis of patients. We aimed to investigate ANLN expression in PCa tissue obtained via radical prostatectomy and its correlation with clinical parameters.

Immunohistochemical staining for ANLN was performed on 86 PCa specimens, followed by evaluation using immunoreactivity (IR) scores. Prognosis was analyzed by the log-rank test using the Kaplan-Meier method to generate a cancer-specific survival curve. The correlations between ANLN IR and clinical parameters as well as OCT1 IR were analyzed using the Chi-squared test.

The median IR score was 0 for ANLN. Accordingly, given the low median IR score, an IR score of ≥3 was defined as positive. There were 17 (19.8%) ANLN-positive cases, and these cases had a significantly poorer prognosis. Multivariate analysis revealed that the Gleason score, pathological tumor and lymph node stages, and positive ANLN expression were significant predictors of poor prognosis. Notably, patients with both positive ANLN and high OCT1 expression had a significantly decreased overall survival (p=0.001).

ANLN, which is a OCT1 target gene especially in castration-resistant PCa, is expressed in a small number of hormone-sensitive PCa cases. Both positive ANLN expression and high OCT1 expression are significantly correlated with poor prognosis for PCa patients.