Evaluation of APOBEC3 expression as prognostic marker in squamous cell carcinoma of the penis

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 12911
• Main Authors: Trimmel, Bettina, Oszwald, Andre, Diemand, Christoph, Ertl, Iris E., Lemberger, Ursula, Bruchbacher, Andreas, Brettner, Robert, Korn, Stephan, Resch, Irene, Comperat, Eva, Shariat, Shahrokh F., Hassler, Melanie R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 28-07-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/208/199; 631/67/1857; 692/4028/67/589/1721; 692/699/255/2514; APOBEC Deaminases; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - pathology; Cytidine Deaminase - genetics; Gene expression; Genital cancers; Human papillomavirus; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Male; Minor Histocompatibility Antigens - genetics; multidisciplinary; Papillomaviridae - genetics; Papillomavirus Infections - complications; Papillomavirus Infections - genetics; Penis; Penis - pathology; Prognosis; Rare diseases; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Squamous cell carcinoma
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17056-8

Squamous cell carcinoma of the penis (PSC) is a rare disease with limited information on the molecular events leading to malignant transformation. In a third of PSC cases, presence of human papilloma virus (HPV) is found. The APOBEC3 family of proteins is known to play a significant role in defense against HPV infection, but their role in PSC is largely unknown. In this study, we aim to assess mRNA expression levels of APOBEC3 family members in HPV+ and HPV− PSC to get insight into their association with clinicopathological features and to evaluate their prognostic impact. Expression levels of six
APOBEC3
family members in tissue from 50 patients with PSC were determined by RT-PCR and correlated with clinical and histopathological features. Lower expression of
APOBEC3A
,
APOBEC3B,
and
APOBEC3C
was observed in advanced PSC stages. Except for
APOBEC3D
, HPV+ samples showed higher expression of
APOBEC3s
compared to HPV− samples. In univariate analyses,
APOBEC3A
and
APOBEC3C
expression tended to be associated with disease-free survival and
APOBEC3A
expression with overall survival; however, multivariable analyses failed to confirm these associations with outcome. More extensive external validation and functional laboratory studies are needed to evaluate further their role in PSC development and progression.