Identification of biomarkers associated with pathological tumor staging and their utility in the diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer.

Objective: Pathological tumor (pT) staging plays a crucial role in prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis. This study aimed to identify pT stage-associated biomarkers and explored their utility in PCa prognosis.

Methods: GSE69223 was used to identify potential targets differentially expressed between level 2 of pT staging (pT2) and level 3 of pT staging (pT3). Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were performed on tissues from patients with PCa to screen the pT stage-associated targets and to explore the prognostic value of these targets in PCa.

Results: CENPI and SLC38A11 were most significantly upregulated, whereas ANO6 and KANK2 were mostly decreased in pT3 tumors compared with pT2 staging. ANO6 levels were negatively associated with preoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, lymph node staging (N staging), Gleason score, and overall survival (OS); CENPI was positively associated with preoperative PSA levels, N staging, and OS, but was not associated with the Gleason score; SLC38A11 and KANK2 were not associated with OS. ANO6 and KANK2 were correlated with neutrophil markers, whereas CENPI was correlated with macrophage M2 types.

Conclusion: We identified 4 reliable PCa biomarkers associated with pT staging that would be valuable for diagnosing and determining PCa prognosis.