FASN Protein Overexpression Indicates Poor Biochemical Recurrence-Free Survival in Prostate Cancer
Zhi Cao, Yalong Xu, Fei Guo, Xi Chen, Jin Ji, Huan Xu, Jingyi He, Yongwei Yu, Yinghao Sun, Xin Lü, Fubo Wang
Abstract
Backgrounds . Fatty acid synthase (FASN) has been regarded as a prognostic marker in prostate cancer (PCa). In this study, we evaluated FASN expression at both mRNA and protein levels and assessed the association between FASN expression and prognosis in male Han Chinese with PCa treated with radical prostatectomy (RP). Methods . Expression profile and prognostic value of FASN were analyzed in tissue microarray (TMA) and data retrieved from databases including TCGA public database, GEO database, and our sequencing data with whole clinicopathological characteristics. Results . FASN expression was associated with clinical parameters and biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer. The relative expression of FASN mRNA was higher in the tumor tissue in all public databases and our sequencing data (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo><</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.001</mml:mn></mml:math>). A similar result was seen in tissue microarray (TMA) (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo><</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.001</mml:mn></mml:math>). Analysis of our sequencing data indicated that FASN’s relative expression was associated with tumor stage (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.048</mml:mn></mml:math>), and FASN expression was positively associated with the Gleason score (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.004</mml:mn></mml:math>) and seminal vesicle invasion (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.011</mml:mn></mml:math>) in TMA. We found that high FASN expression was an independent predictor of shorter BCR-free survival with univariate and multivariate survival analysis (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mo><</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.05</mml:mn></mml:math>), rendering FASN an optimal prognostic biomarker in male Han Chinese with prostate cancer. Conclusions . Our study demonstrated that FASN was overexpressed at mRNA and protein levels in PCa. We found that patients with high FASN expression had a shorter BCR-free survival, showing its value as a prognostic biomarker in male Han Chinese with PCa.