Expression of human cartilage glycoprotein 39 in peripheral blood and tissues in renal cell carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression of human cartilage glycoprotein 39 (YKL-40) in renal clear cell carcinoma and peripheral blood, and to analyze its correlation with prognosis. Methods A total of 110 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy were enrolled as the observation group, and 50 patients with normal physical examination results were enrolled as the control group. The renal clear cell carcinoma tissues and adjacent tissues were taken after operation, and the expression level of YKL-40 mRNA was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR). Results The level of YKL-40 [(186.9±15.7) μg/L] in the peripheral blood of the observation group before surgery was significantly higher than that of the control group [(115.1±12.5) μg/L] and after surgery [(146.3±13.5) μg/L, t=20.565, 28.478, P 0.05). Multivariate Cox analysis showed that Fuhrman classification [OR(95%CI): 2.335(1.359-10.656)], lymph node metastasis [OR(95%CI): 1.854(1.289-7.659)] and peripheral blood YKL-40 [OR(95%CI): 1.335(1.185-6.987)] were independent factors of OS (P<0.05). Conclusion The level of YKL-40 in peripheral blood of patients with renal clear cell carcinoma is elevated and closely related to OS, which may be a prognostic marker. There was no increase in the level of YKL-40 in cancer tissues, and serum YKL-40 may not be derived from cancer cells. Key words: YKL-40; Renal clear cell carcinoma; Overall survival