[Association of S100A4 mRNA expression with differentiation and metastasis of renal cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To study the association of S100A4 mRNA expression level with the differentiation and metastasis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). METHODS: Tissue specimens were obtained from 31 patients undergoing surgery for renal cell carcinomas between May 2001 and May 2004. Reverse transcriptional PCR was performed for amplification of S100A4 mRNA (212 bp) from 31 RCC tissues and matched normal kidney tissues besides the tumor, and the differential S100A4 mRNA expression was analyzed for its association with the clinical manifestations of the patients. RESULTS: S100A4 mRNA expression was detected in all the RCC tissues and normal tissues adjacent to the carcinoma using fluorescence method, and in 29 cases, S100A4 mRNA expression was significantly higher in the RCC tissues than in the matched adjacent tissues. One case had high expressions in both tissues. Patients with poorly differentiated RCC had significantly higher S100A4 expression index than those with well differentiated RCC (7.94 vs 5.06, P<0.001), and patients with metastasis also had higher expression index (9.61 vs 5.53, P<0.001). No obvious difference was noted in the expression index between granular cell tumor and clear cell carcinoma (6.98 vs 6.02, P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: S100A4 may serve as a marker for assessing the progression of RCC and provide assistance for clinical therapeutic decisions. S100A4 mRNA expression is correlated to RCC differentiation and may facilitate prognostic evaluation of RCC. Differential expression of S100A4 mRNA is correlated to the metastasis of RCC.