Evaluation of Relationship between CD38 Expression and Gleason Score in Prostatic Carcinoma

Abstract

Background and purpose: Prostate cancer is the most prevalent non-cutaneous malignancy in men. The Gleason grading system is an important prognostic factor in prostatic carcinoma. Nowadays, identifying biomarkers indicating high-risk patients and targeted therapy is considered. The CD38 is a membranous glycoprotein involved in adenosine generation, and in this way, it plays a role in tumorigenesis and progression of various tumors. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between CD38 expression and Gleason score in prostatic carcinoma. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional retrospective study, 85 paraffin blocks from prostatic carcinoma tissue samples were immunohistochemically stained by CD38 monoclonal antibody. The percentage of CD38 expression in tumor cells was determined, and its relation with primary and secondary Gleason grade and total Gleason score in evaluated samples was analyzed by SPSS (version 16). Results: The mean of evaluated patients’ age was 70.67 ± 8.84 years, and 40% were in the range of 71-80 years. The mean of CD38 expression percentage in prostatic carcinoma tumor cells was %49.18 ± 16.58 and in the range of 8%-84%. A significant reverse relationship was found between CD38 expression percentage with primary Gleason grade (P<0.001), secondary Gleason grade (P=0.002), and total Gleason score (P<0.001). Conclusion: It seems that the loss of CD38 expression plays a role in the development, progression, and aggressive behaviour of prostatic carcinoma. Therefore, it is possible that treatments inducing CD38 expression in tumour cells of prostatic carcinoma could effectively treat and prevent tumour progression.

Keywords

• cd38
• gleason grade
• prognosis
• prostate carcinoma