Clinical utility of keratin 14 expression measurement in reflecting the tumor properties and prognosis in patients with renal cell carcinoma: a study with long-term follow-up

Keratin 14 (KRT14) is hypothesized to be involved in the pathogenesis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) based on its tumorigenic role in various cancers and its relationship with the prognosis of other urinary system malignancies. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation of KRT14 with tumor properties and prognosis in RCC patients.

Data from 180 RCC patients who received tumor resection were retrospectively reviewed. The KRT14 was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining in tumor tissues and non-tumor tissues.

KRT14 was insufficiently expressed in both tumor and non-tumor tissues, with median (interquartile range) IHC score of 2.0 (0.0–3.4) and 1.0 (0.0–2.0), respectively. While it was relatively higher in tumor versus non-tumor tissues (P < 0.001). Besides, tumor KRT14 was positively correlated with the pathological grade (P = 0.038), tumor size (P = 0.012), T stage (P = 0.006), and TNM stage (P = 0.018). Interestingly, tumor KRT14 high predicted shorter accumulating recurrence-free survival (RFS) (P = 0.003) and accumulating overall survival (OS) (P = 0.001), which was further verified by the multivariate Cox’s regression analysis (both P < 0.05). Furthermore, tumor KRT14 high estimated shorter RFS and OS from the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis and Human Protein ATLAS databases (all P < 0.05). Subgroup analyses indicated that the correlation of tumor KRT14 with accumulating RFS and accumulating OS was more pronounced in RCC patients with better physical status (such as age < 65 years and better eastern cooperative oncology group performance status) and higher tumor stages (such as higher pathological grade).

High KRT14 in tumor tissue could reflect an advanced tumor features and unsatisfying survival in RCC patients.