Expression of FOXC2 in renal cell carcinoma and its relationship to clinical pathological features.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate expression level of FOXC2 and its relationship to clinical pathological features of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). METHODS: The expression levels of FOXC2 in RCC tissues and normal renal tissues (62 samples, respectively) were detected by immunohistochemistry and PCR Array. Statistics analyses were done with SPSS to compare the differences between RCC tissues and normal renal tissue, and to explore the relationship between the expression level of FOXC2 and the clinical pathological features of RCC. RESULTS: Expression level of FOXC2 in RCC tissues was significantly higher than in normal renal tissues, and other related cancer genes also highly expressed in RCC tissues. FOXC2 expression was positively associated with clinical stage and pathological grade (P < 0.05), but not significantly related to the gender and age (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of FOXC2 in renal cell carcinoma was significantly higher than that in normal renal tissues. It is suggested that FOXC2 might play a crucial role in the occurrence and development of RCC and could be an important prognostic indicator for clinical therapy.