Abstract
Dectin-1, a classical pattern-recognition receptor, was now identified as an important regulator in immune homeostasis and cancer immunity through its extensive ligands binding functions and subsequent cytokines production. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical significance of dectin-1 expression in 290 patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) through immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays. We found that dectin-1 was predominantly expressed on ccRCC cells, in accordance with several other online databases. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier method was conducted and high expression of tumoral dectin-1 was associated with shorter patient recurrence free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) (P < 0.001 for both). In multivariate analyses, tumoral dectin-1 expression was also confirmed as an independent prognostic factor for patients' survival together with other clinical parameters (P < 0.001 for RFS and OS). After incorporating these characteristics including tumoral dectin-1 expression, two nomograms were constructed to predict ccRCC patients' RFS and OS (c-index 0.796 and 0.812, respectively) and performed better than existed integrated models (P < 0.001 for all models comparisons). In conclusion, high tumoral dectin-1 expression was an independent predictor of adverse clinical outcome in ccRCC patients. This molecule and established nomograms might help clinicians in future decision making and therapeutic developments.