Death Receptor 6 as a Prognostic Marker in Low-grade Glioma
Sarah K. Stegmann, Saskia Kuhl, Nam Gyu Im, DANG THUY DIEM-DINH, Lukas Goertz, Roland Goldbrunner, Marco Timmer
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Low-grade gliomas (LGG) are heterogenous tumours, causing variable survivals in patients. Identifying molecular markers for a more accurate prognosis is, therefore, important. Since death receptor 6 (DR6) is up-regulated in gliomas and shows an aberrant signalling network, we tested its suitability as a prognostic marker. MATERIALS AND METHODS: DR6 was investigated in patient samples via PCR and western blot. Clinical data were analysed and compared to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) 'brain lower grade glioma' dataset. RESULTS: DR6 was found to be enhanced in LGG and its expression increased in recurrent LGG. The receptor showed a protective effect in primary LGG with a significantly elongated progression-free survival that was confirmed in the TCGA study. This effect was reversed in relapsed LGG in which cases with high DR6 expression reveal a shorter overall survival. CONCLUSION: DR6 is an interesting candidate for further studies regarding its effect as a prognostic marker, playing an opposing role in primary and relapsed LGG.