THSD7A Positivity Is Associated with High Expression of FAK in Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignancies, and there are a wide range of treatment options after diagnosis. Most prostate cancers behave in an indolent manner. However, a given sub-group has been shown to exhibit aggressive behavior; therefore, it is desirable to find novel prognostic and predictive (molecular) markers. THSD7A expression is significantly associated with unfavorable prognostic parameters in prostate cancer. FAK is overexpressed in several tumor types and is believed to play a role in tumor progression and metastasis. Furthermore, there is evidence that THSD7A might affect FAK-dependent signaling pathways. To examine whether THSD7A expression has an impact on the expression level of FAK in its unphosphorylated form, a total of 461 prostate cancers were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarrays. THSD7A positivity and low FAK expression were associated with adverse pathological features. THSD7A positivity was significantly associated with high FAK expression. To our knowledge we are the first to show that THSD7A positivity is associated with high FAK expression in prostate cancer. This might be proof of the actual involvement of THSD7A in FAK-dependent signaling pathways. This is of special importance because THSD7A might also serve as a putative therapeutic target in cancer therapy.

THSD7A Positivity Predicts Poor Survival and Is Linked to High FAK Expression and FGFR1-Wildtype in Female Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

“…Like our recently published data on prostate cancer [5], THSD7A positivity showed at least a tendency towards high FAK expression in female patients with LSCC. This again might be proof of the assumed activation of FAK-dependent signaling pathways by THSD7A.…”

“…In a recent study, we could show that THSD7A positivity is associated with high FAK expression in prostate cancer [ 5 ]. For that reason, we examined the role of THSD7A as a potential biomarker in squamous cell carcinomas of the lung and the association between THSD7A and FAK in this tumor entity.…”

“…Several studies indicate that THSD7A might at least play a role in the prognosis of different tumor types and that it possibly activates FAK-dependent signaling pathways [ 5 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. The aim of this study was to examine the role of THSD7A as a potential biomarker in LSCC.…”

“…In a recent study, we could show that positivity of Thrombospondin Type-1 Domain-Containing 7A (THSD7A) is associated with a high expression of Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) and with adverse clinicopathological parameters in prostate cancer [ 5 ]. THSD7A became known because of its involvement in the pathogenesis of membranous nephropathy (MN) [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…There is evidence that Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) might be activated by THSD7A [ 5 , 10 , 11 ]. FAK is a protein tyrosine kinase that regulates cellular adhesion, motility, proliferation, and survival in various types of cells.…”