CXC chemokine receptor 2 is associated with postoperative recurrence and survival of patients with non-metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma

Background: Aberrant CXC chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2) expression has been shown to promote angiogenesis and proliferation in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Our current study aims to evaluate the prognostic significance of CXCR2 in patients with non-metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 375 patients with non-metastatic ccRCC undergoing nephrectomy at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University between 2003 and 2008. The cohort was split into a training set (n = 184) and a validation set (n = 191). CXCR2 expression was assessed by immunohistochemical staining and its association with clinicopathologic features and prognosis were evaluated. Results: CXCR2 expression was significantly associated with tumour size (P = 0.036 and P = 0.016, respectively) and Fuhrman grade (P = 0.009 and P = 0.001, respectively) in the training and validation sets. Moreover, high CXCR2 expression indicated poor overall survival (OS) (P < 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively) and recurrence-free survival (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively) in the training and validation sets. The incorporation of CXCR2 into the T stage and Fuhrman grade would help to refine individual risk stratification. Furthermore, CXCR2 expression was identified as an independent adverse prognostic factor for survival (P < 0.001) and recurrence (P < 0.001). A predictive nomogram was generated with identified independent prognosticators to assess patient recurrence-free survival at 5 and 10 years. Conclusions: CXCR2 is a potential independent adverse prognostic biomarker for recurrence and survival of patients with non-metastatic ccRCC after nephrectomy. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.