Metastasis-associated in
colon cancer 1 (MACC1) has recently been identified as a novel independent prognostic
indicator for
metastasis occurrence, overall survival and
cancer-free survival for patients with
colon cancer and other solid
tumors. In this study, we investigated the role of MACC1 in the development and progression of renal pelvis
carcinoma, a form of upper tract urothelial
carcinomas. MACC1
protein has been found in the cytoplasm as well as in the nucleus of the transitional epithelial cells of the normal renal pelvis in immunohistochemical (IHC) assays. Quantitative IHC examinations revealed that MACC1 abnormal abundance in cancerous tissues might represent a
biological indicator clinically suggestive of
tumor malignancy in the renal pelvis. Furthermore, investigation of the association of MACC1
protein levels with clinicopathological parameters in this study has suggested a correlation of MACC1 expression with
tumor-node-
metastasis stage and histopathological grade of patients with renal pelvis
carcinoma, with elevated MACC1
protein levels frequently associated with higher aggressiveness of the disease. Moreover, both disease-free survival and overall survival for the patients in the high MACC1 expression group were significantly lower than those in the low expression group. Multivariate analysis with a Cox proportional-hazards model suggested that MACC1 is indeed an independent prognostic
indicator of overall survival and
cancer-free survival for patients with renal pelvis
carcinoma. Thus, MACC1 may represent a promising prognostic
biomarker candidate, as well as a potential therapeutic target for this disease.