TGF-β/PI3K/AKT/mTOR/NF-kB pathway. Clinicopathological features in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in the male population. The objective of this investigation was to study the relationship of components of transforming growth factor-B (TGF-beta)/phosphoinositide-3-kinases (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) transduction pathway with clinical-pathological markers. By immunohistochemical methods, we determined the expression of several factors [TGF-beta, Transforming Growth Factor B Receptor I (TGFBRI), TGFBRII, PI3K, AKT-Ser, AKT-Thr, mTOR, p-mTOR, inhibitor kB kinase (IKK), pIKK, inhibitor kB (IkB), pIkB, NF-kBp50, and NF-kBp65]. To know their relationship with established classical markers (Preoperative serum prostate specific antigen, pathological tumor stage, clinical tumor stage, Gleason score, perineural invasion, node involvement, positive surgical margins, biochemical progression, and survival) and their importance in the prognosis of biochemical progression, Spearman test, survival analysis, Log-rang test, Kaplan-Meier curves, univariate and multivariate Cox proportional Hazard regression analyses were performed. Spearman analysis showed that there was at least one correlation between TGF-beta, TGFBRI, PI3K, pAKT-Thr, p-mTOR, NF-kBp50, and classical markers. Cox multivariate analysis between the prognostic variables (pathological tumor stage, Gleason score, and node involvement) and inmunohistochemical parameters confirmed TGFBR1 and PI3K as a prognostic and independent marker of biochemical progression in prostate cancer. Our results suggest that TGFBR1 and PI3K could be used as useful biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognoses for biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy.