Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a cancer of increasing incidence and mortality. Currently, there are no immunohistochemical prognostic markers for RCCs in routine use. The aim of this study was to examine for the first time the immunostaining of myosin VI in RCCs as well as its association with E-cadherin and beta-catenin immunostaining and the prognostic significance of these markers in RCCs.
Methods: Our study population consisted of 152 patients who underwent surgery for RCCs between 1990 and 1999. The tumours were examined with three immunohistochemical markers: myosin VI, E-cadherin and beta-catenin.
Results: The immunostaining for cytoplasmic myosin VI was common (72%). One-third of the tumours were immunopositive for nuclear myosin VI. Cytoplasmic myosin VI immunopositivity and nuclear beta-catenin immunostaining were associated with lower Fuhrman grades (p = 0.04 and p = 0.005, respectively), but not stages. There was no significant association between myosin VI immunostaining and the histological subtype of RCC. Nuclear myosin VI was associated with the nuclear expression of beta-catenin. A direct association could also be proven between membranous E-cadherin and cytoplasmic beta-catenin. Cytoplasmic myosin VI immunostaining was a marker of poorer prognosis in multivariate Cox regression model adjusted with stage and Fuhrman grade with hazard ratio 2.4 (95% confidence interval 1.1 to 5.0 with p = 0.024).
Conclusions: Cytoplasmic myosin VI immunopositivity and nuclear beta-catenin immunostaining were associated with lower Fuhrman grades, and there was a strong positive relationship between E-cadherin immunostaining and beta-catenin immunostaining in RCCs. Cytoplasmic myosin VI immunostaining was associated with poorer prognosis in RCCs.