Upregulation of COL6A1 is predictive of poor prognosis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma patients

Background: The extracellular matrix (ECM) is reported to play an important role in tumorigenesis and progression. Collagen VI is an important ECM protein. In this study, we investigated the potential role of the COL6A1 gene, which encodes the α1 polypeptide of collagen VI, in the biological functions involved in the progression and outcome of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Materials and methods: A total of 288 ccRCC patients who underwent radical nephrectomy (RN) or nephron sparing nephrectomy (NSS) at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC) were enrolled. Total RNA was extracted from frozen samples obtained from the tissue bank of FUSCC and expression of COL6A1 was determined by qRT-PCR. The clinical relationship between COL6A1 expression and ccRCC prognosis was analyzed. These data were then validated in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. We also investigated the effect of COL6A1 overexpression in a xenografted tumor model in nude mice in vivo. Results: In multivariate analysis of TCGA cohorts, COL6A1 high expression was predictive of poor prognosis in ccRCC patients’ overall survival (OS) (HR: 2.588 95%CI 1.616–4.146) and disease free survival(DFS) (HR: 3.106 95%CI 1.534–6.288). In FUSCC cohorts, after adjusted for relevant factors, the COL6A1 expression indicates poor prognosis in ccRCC patients’s OS (HR 2.211; 95% CI, 1.360–8.060) and DFS (HR 3.052; 95%CI, 1.500–6.210). COL6A1 overexpression promoted tumor growth in xenografted nude mice. Conclusion: Increased COL6A1 expression correlates with poor prognosis in ccRCC patients. Moreover, COL6A1 stimulates tumor growth in vivo.