Worst TS, et al. - This study gauged the functional and prognostic relevance of EEF1A2 gene expression, in prostate cancer (PCa). The overexpression of EEF1A2 was a common occurrence in localized PCa. It correlated with histopathology features and a shorter biochemical recurrence-free survival. As a result of its independence from serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, EEF1A2 could serve as a beneficial biomarker in the risk-stratification of localized PCa.

Methods

• An assessment was performed of the EEF1A2 expression in two cohorts of patients (n = 40 and n = 59) with localized PCa.
• Re-analysis was conducted of the data from two large expression dataset (MSKCC, Cell, 2010 with n = 131 localized, n = 19 metastatic PCa and TCGA provisional data, n = 499) of PCa patients.
• The expression of EEF1A2 was linked with histopathology features and biochemical recurrence (BCR).
• The siRNA interference was utilized with intention of gauging the effect of EEF1A2 on proliferation and migration of metastatic PC3 cells.
• Statistical significance was investigated through t-test, Mann-Whitney-test, Pearson correlation and log-rank test.

Results

• qRT-PCR disclosed EEF1A2 to be substantially overexpressed in PCa tissue, with the increase on the tumor stage in one cohort (p = 0.0443).
• In silico analyses of the MSKCC cohort affirmed the overexpression of EEF1A2 in localized PCa with high Gleason score (p = 0.0142) and in metastatic lesions (p = 0.0038).
• Patients with EEF1A2 overexpression reported a considerably shorter BCR-free survival (p = 0.0028).
• There was no association between EEF1A2 expression with serum PSA levels.
• There were similar results in TCGA cohort, where EEF1A2 overexpression only occurred in tumors with Gleason 7 or higher.
• Those presenting with elevated EEF1A2 expression exhibited a notably shorter BCR-free survival (p = 0.043).
• EEF1A2 knockdown prominently impaired the migration, with the exception of the proliferation of metastatic PC3 cells.