High KIFC1 expression is associated with poor prognosis in prostate cancer

Abstract

Kinesins play important roles in the progression and development of cancer. Kinesin family member C1 (KIFC1), a minus end-directed motor protein, is a novel Kinesin involved in the clustering of excess centrosomes found in cancer cells. Recently KIFC1 has shown to play a role in the progression of many different cancers, however, the involvement of KIFC1 in the progression of prostate cancer (PCa) is still not well understood. This study investigated the expression and clinical significance of KIFC1 in PCa by utilizing multiple publicly available datasets to analyze KIFC1 expression in patient samples. High KIFC1 expression was found to be associated with high Gleason score, high tumor stage, metastatic lesions, high ploidy levels, and lower recurrence-free survival. These results reveal that high KIFC1 levels are associated with a poor prognosis for PCa patients and could act as a prognostic indicator for PCa patients as well.

Nuclear morphology predicts cell survival to cisplatin chemotherapy

“…multinucleated phenotypes (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)42). It is likely that the specific nuclear morphology of PACCs plays a role in the survival and eventual formation of progeny by these cells.…”

“…However, our group and others have identified a stress-induced cell state characterized by physical enlargement and polyaneuploid genomes. Cells in the polyaneuploid cancer cell (PACC) state have been identified in the tumors of patients with metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) and in other tumor types (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33). Presence of cells in the PACC state in clinical radical prostatectomy specimens from PCa patients is predictive of an increased risk of disease progression (34).…”

“…The PACC state is initiated when a cancer cell is subjected to a stressor, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, triggering a conserved evolutionary program that results in sustained polyploidization of the aneuploid genome (polyaneuploidy) and increased cell size and cell contents. When the cellular stressor is no longer present and after a period of recovery, a subpopulation of cells may exit the PACC state and reinitiate proliferation, a phenomenon clinically observed as cancer recurrence (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42).…”

“…Hyper-abnormal nuclear morphologies, such as multilobulated and multinucleated nuclei, are highly associated with metastasis and recurrence (35,54,65). Since cancer cells in the PACC state exhibit most or all of these distinct nuclear shapes associated with malignancy (54,56,(61)(62)(63) and because recent evidence suggest that the PACC state could be the lynchpin of cancer lethality (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42), it is important to investigate the timing and mechanisms utilized by cancer cells to enter and maintain the therapeutic resistant PACC state.…”

Kinesin Family Member C1 (KIFC1/HSET): A Potential Actionable Biomarker of Early Stage Breast Tumorigenesis and Progression of High-Risk Lesions

“…KIFC1 is overexpressed and confers a poorer prognosis across various cancer types such as hepatocellular carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer [31][32][33][34]. In breast cancer, high nuclear KIFC1 levels at the time of diagnosis have been associated with shorter overall and progression-free survival [35].…”