Clinicopathological Profiling of LC3B, an Autophagy Marker, and ESRRA (Estrogen-related Receptor-alpha) in Muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer

Microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B (LC3B), an autophagy marker, has been used as a promising marker in various cancer types. However, the expression of LC3B in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and its prognostic significance have not been investigated. Recent studies pointed to the involvement of ESRRA in regulating autophagy via both transcriptional and post-translational control. In the current study, prognostic importance of LC3B and ESRRA in MIBC was investigated.

We immunohistochemically studied the expression of LC3B and ESRRA in 56 MIBC samples.

LC3B was stained high in 16 patients (28.6%) and low or negative in 40 patients (71.4%). ESRRA expression was high for 20 patients (35.7%) and low for 36 patients (64.3%). Both LC3B (p=0.003) and ESRRA (p=0.026) expression correlated significantly with disease-free survival rates. Double-positive LC3B and ESRRA correlated with poor overall survival (p=0.007) and disease-free survival (p=0.001) in MIBC patients.

LC3B and ESRRA might be a useful prognostic factor in patients with MIBC. The co-expression of LC3B and ESRRA might be a prognostic and therapeutic target for patients with bladder cancer.

Anticancer research. 2018 Apr [Epub]

Sup Kim, Adam Jaehyeok Lee, Min-Kyung Yeo, Yong Gil Na, Ji-Yeon Kim, Moon-June Cho, Jun-Sang Kim, Eun-Kyeong Jo, Jin-Man Kim

Department of Pathology, Infection Control Convergence Research Center, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea., Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea., Department of Urology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea., Department of Radiation Oncology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea., Department of Microbiology, Infection Control Convergence Research Center, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea., Department of Pathology, Infection Control Convergence Research Center, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea .