TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kotlyar, Mischa J.
A1  - Krebs, Markus
A1  - Solimando, Antonio Giovanni
A1  - Marquardt, André
A1  - Burger, Maximilian
A1  - Kübler, Hubert
A1  - Bargou, Ralf
A1  - Kneitz, Susanne
A1  - Otto, Wolfgang
A1  - Breyer, Johannes
A1  - Vergho, Daniel C.
A1  - Kneitz, Burkhard
A1  - Kalogirou, Charis
T1  - Critical evaluation of a microRNA-based risk classifier predicting cancer-specific survival in renal cell carcinoma with tumor thrombus of the inferior vena cava
JF  - Cancers
N2  - (1) Background: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma extending into the inferior vena cava (ccRCC\(^{IVC}\)) represents a clinical high-risk setting. However, there is substantial heterogeneity within this patient subgroup regarding survival outcomes. Previously, members of our group developed a microRNA(miR)-based risk classifier — containing miR-21-5p, miR-126-3p and miR-221-3p expression — which significantly predicted the cancer-specific survival (CSS) of ccRCC\(^{IVC}\) patients. (2) Methods: Examining a single-center cohort of tumor tissue from n = 56 patients with ccRCC\(^{IVC}\), we measured the expression levels of miR-21, miR-126, and miR-221 using qRT-PCR. The prognostic impact of clinicopathological parameters and miR expression were investigated via single-variable and multivariable Cox regression. Referring to the previously established risk classifier, we performed Kaplan–Meier analyses for single miR expression levels and the combined risk classifier. Cut-off values and weights within the risk classifier were taken from the previous study. (3) Results: miR-21 and miR-126 expression were significantly associated with lymphonodal status at the time of surgery, the development of metastasis during follow-up, and cancer-related death. In Kaplan–Meier analyses, miR-21 and miR-126 significantly impacted CSS in our cohort. Moreover, applying the miR-based risk classifier significantly stratified ccRCC\(^{IVC}\) according to CSS. (4) Conclusions: In our retrospective analysis, we successfully validated the miR-based risk classifier within an independent ccRCC\(^{IVC}\) cohort.
KW  - kidney cancer
KW  - RCC
KW  - venous infiltration
KW  - biomarker
KW  - miR
KW  - risk stratification
Y1  - 2023
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-311040
SN  - 2072-6694
VL  - 15
IS  - 7
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Krebs, Markus
A1  - Solimando, Antonio Giovanni
A1  - Kalogirou, Charis
A1  - Marquardt, André
A1  - Frank, Torsten
A1  - Sokolakis, Ioannis
A1  - Hatzichristodoulou, Georgios
A1  - Kneitz, Susanne
A1  - Bargou, Ralf
A1  - Kübler, Hubert
A1  - Schilling, Bastian
A1  - Spahn, Martin
A1  - Kneitz, Burkhard
T1  - miR-221-3p Regulates VEGFR2 Expression in High-Risk Prostate Cancer and Represents an Escape Mechanism from Sunitinib In Vitro
JF  - Journal of Clinical Medicine
N2  - Downregulation of miR-221-3p expression in prostate cancer (PCa) predicted overall and cancer-specific survival of high-risk PCa patients. Apart from PCa, miR-221-3p expression levels predicted a response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients. Since this role of miR-221-3p was explained with a specific targeting of VEGFR2, we examined whether miR-221-3p regulated VEGFR2 in PCa. First, we confirmed VEGFR2/KDR as a target gene of miR-221-3p in PCa cells by applying Luciferase reporter assays and Western blotting experiments. Although VEGFR2 was mainly downregulated in the PCa cohort of the TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas) database, VEGFR2 was upregulated in our high-risk PCa cohort (n = 142) and predicted clinical progression. In vitro miR-221-3p acted as an escape mechanism from TKI in PC3 cells, as displayed by proliferation and apoptosis assays. Moreover, we confirmed that Sunitinib induced an interferon-related gene signature in PC3 cells by analyzing external microarray data and by demonstrating a significant upregulation of miR-221-3p/miR-222-3p after Sunitinib exposure. Our findings bear a clinical perspective for high-risk PCa patients with low miR-221-3p levels since this could predict a favorable TKI response. Apart from this therapeutic niche, we identified a partially oncogenic function of miR-221-3p as an escape mechanism from VEGFR2 inhibition.
KW  - microRNA-221
KW  - high-risk Prostate Cancer
KW  - angiogenesis
KW  - Sunitinib
KW  - Tyrosine kinase inhibition
Y1  - 2020
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-203168
SN  - 2077-0383
VL  - 9
IS  - 3
ER  -