CD99 Expression and Prognostic Impact in Glioblastoma: A Single-Center Cohort Study

• Published in: Cells (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 597
• Main Authors: Rocca, Andrea, Giudici, Fabiola, Donofrio, Carmine Antonio, Bottin, Cristina, Pinamonti, Maurizio, Ferrari, Benvenuto, Schettini, Francesco, Pineda, Estela, Panni, Stefano, Cominetti, Marika, D'Auria, Patrizia, Bianchini, Simonetta, Varotti, Elena, Ungari, Marco, Ciccarelli, Stefano, Filippini, Marzia, Brenna, Sarah, Fiori, Valentina, Di Mambro, Tomas, Sparti, Angelo, Magnani, Mauro, Zanconati, Fabrizio, Generali, Daniele, Fioravanti, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-04-2024
• Subjects: Adjuvant treatment; Analysis; Antibodies; Antigens; Automation; Brain cancer; Brain tumors; Cancer; Care and treatment; CD99; CD99 antigen; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell migration; Diagnosis; Ewings sarcoma; Gene expression; Genes; Genomes; Glioblastoma; Glioblastoma multiforme; Glioma; Immunohistochemistry; Isoforms; Polymerase chain reaction; Prognosis; prognostic factor; quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction; Radiation therapy; Temozolomide; Therapeutic targets; Tumors; United States; United States > US; glioblastoma; immunohistochemistry; prognostic factor; CD99; quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction
• ISSN: 2073-4409; 2073-4409
• DOI: 10.3390/cells13070597

Glioblastoma is the most frequent and aggressive brain tumor in adults. This study aims to evaluate the expression and prognostic impact of CD99, a membrane glycoprotein involved in cellular migration and invasion. In a cohort of patients with glioblastoma treated with surgery, radiotherapy and temozolomide, we retrospectively analyzed tumor expression of CD99 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for both the wild type (CD99wt) and the truncated (CD99sh) isoforms. The impact on overall survival (OS) was assessed with the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test and by multivariable Cox regression. Forty-six patients with glioblastoma entered this study. Immunohistochemical expression of CD99 was present in 83%. Only the CD99wt isoform was detected by qRT-PCR and was significantly correlated with CD99 expression evaluated by IHC (rho = 0.309,
= 0.037). CD99 expression was not associated with OS, regardless of the assessment methodology used (
= 0.61 for qRT-PCR and
= 0.73 for IHC). In an exploratory analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas, casuistry of glioblastomas CD99 expression was not associated with OS nor with progression-free survival. This study confirms a high expression of CD99 in glioblastoma but does not show any significant impact on survival. Further preclinical studies are needed to define its role as a therapeutic target in glioblastoma.