Purpose
Paxillin regulates cell-cell adhesion, and altered
Paxillin expression has been associated with human
carcinogenesis. This study analyzed the association between
Paxillin expression in
prostate cancer (PCa) tissues with clinicopathological features,
lymph node metastasis and biochemical PCa recurrence. Methods A total of 386 tissue specimens from PCa patients who received radical
prostatectomy and 60 tissue specimens from
benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) cases were collected to construct tissue microarrays, which were subsequently immunostained for
Paxillin expression. Thirty positive lymph node tissue specimens and 10 healthy prostate tissue specimens were randomly selected for
Paxillin immunostaining. Results The association between
Paxillin expression,
lymph node metastasis and biochemical PCa recurrence was analyzed.
Paxillin expression was significantly higher in PCa than both normal and BPH tissues (P<0.001) and was correlated with preoperative
prostate-specific antigen level, Gleason score, clinical
tumor stage,
lymph node metastasis,
positive surgical margin,
extracapsular extension and seminal vesicle invasion (P<0.05 for all). Logistic regression analysis showed that
Paxillin and Gleason score were independent risk factors for PCa
lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve indicated that
Paxillin expression (AUC=0.723) more accurately predicted PCa
lymph node metastasis than Gleason score (AUC=0.692). Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed that increased
Paxillin expression was associated with shortened biochemical-free survival (BFS) after radical
prostatectomy (P<0.001). Conclusion
Paxillin was significantly upregulated in PCa compared with BPH and normal tissues and associated with
lymph node metastasis and shortened BFS of PCa. Further study will investigate the underlying molecular mechanism and the role of
Paxillin in PCa.