Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) contribute to multiple cellular functions including RNA splicing, stabilization, transcriptional and translational regulation, and signal transduction. However, the prognostic importance of genetic variants of hnRNP genes in clinical outcomes of prostate cancer remains to be elucidated. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied the association of 78 germline single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 23 hnRNP genes with the overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and progression-free survival (PFS) in 630 patients with prostate cancer receiving androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). RESULTS: PTBP1 rs10420407 was the most significant SNP (false discovery rate q=0.003) and carriers of the A allele exhibited poor OS, CSS, and PFS. Multivariate Cox analysis confirmed PTBP1 rs10420407 A allele was an independent negative prognostic factor for OS and PFS. Expression quantitative trait loci analysis showed that the rs10420407 A allele had a trend towards increased PTBP1 mRNA expression, and higher expression was correlated with prostate cancer aggressiveness and poor patient prognosis. Meta-analysis of 16 independent studies further indicated a tumorigenic effect of PTBP1, with a higher expression in prostate cancers than in adjacent normal tissues (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that PTBP1 rs10420407 may influence patient response to ADT, and PTBP1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer progression.