Expression of cyclins A and D and p21((waf1/cip1)) proteins in renal cell cancer and their relation to clinicopathological variables and patient survival

We have studied 118 renal cell carcinomas to analyse the expressions of cyclins A and D1 and p21((waf1/cip1)), and their relationship to clinical and histopathological parameters as well as to clinical outcome. Cyclins A and D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21((waf1/cip1)) were not expressed in normal renal tissue. Staining signals of cyclin D1 and p21((waf1/cip1)) were always nuclear but cyclin A was also expressed in the cytoplasm of the tumour cells. The mean (range) fractions of cyclin A, cyclin D1 and p21((waf1/cip1))-positive tumour cells were 2.2% (range 0–20%), 23.3% (range 0–90%) and 6.8% (range 0–70%) respectively. The expression of cyclin A was related to venous invasion, high nuclear grade, high mitotic rate, high Ki-67 and high PCNA expressions (P ≤ 0.006 for all). The expression of cyclin D1 was linked with age over 65 years, low nuclear grade and high p53 expression (P ≤ 0.05 for all). An inverse correlation was present between p21((waf1/cip1)) and cyclin D1 (P = 0.011). Cyclin A predicted survival in the entire study group (P = 0.0014), in T1–4/N0–2/M0 (P = 0.0007) and in T1–2/N0/M0 tumours (P = 0.0007). Cyclin A was also a powerful predictor of disease-free survival in T1–4/N0/M0 (P = 0.0027) tumours (P = 0.0007). Cyclin D1 and p21((waf1/cip1)) were not significantly related to survival or disease-free survival in any of the groups. In the entire material the independent prognostic factors were the presence of distant metastases (relative risk (RR) 5.16, P < 0.001), T category (RR 2.68, P < 0.001), Ki-67 expression (RR 1.02, P = 0.026) and cyclin A expression (RR 1.12, P = 0.001). The independent predictors in T1–4/N0/M0 tumours were T-category (RR 2.67, P = 0.001) and cyclin A (RR 1.21, P < 0.001), and in T1–2/N0/M0 tumours the only significant predictor was cyclin A (RR 1.19, P = 0.0002). In renal cell carcinoma, cyclin A is a powerful and independent prognostic factor in all clinical stages of the disease, whereas cyclin D1 and p21((waf1/cip1)) have no prognostic value. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign