ABCG2 is a potential prognostic marker of overall survival in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: ATP-binding cassette sub-family G member 2 (ABCG2) is a semi-transport protein that plays a major role in multidrug resistance. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of ABCG2 expression in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma. METHODS: From 2008 to 2013, 120 patients with clear cell kidney cancer underwent surgery with paraffin-embedded specimens and necessary clinical information available. Immunohistochemistry staining was performed to grade the expression of ABCG2 as ABCG2(−): less than 10% of tumor cells stained; ABCG2(+): weak membrane staining; and ABCG2(++): moderate or strong membrane staining. The overall survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariable Cox regression evaluated the independent predictors for overall survival. RESULTS: ABCG2(−) was diagnosed in 57 (48%) patients, ABCG2(+) in 52 (43%) patients, and ABCG2 (++) in 11(9.2%) patients. ABCG2 expression significantly correlated with the five-year survival (p < 0.001) and distant metastasis (p = 0.001). In the multivariable analysis, besides Fuhrman grade, the ABCG2 expression was an independent prognostic marker for overall survival (p < 0.001) when incorporating other relevant tumor and clinical parameters (HR = 3.84, 95% CI: 1.92–7.70). CONCLUSION: The current data suggests that ABCG2 may serve as a prognostic marker for overall survival in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Further studies with large cohorts of patients will be essential for validating these findings and defining the clinical utility of ABCG2 in the patient population. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-017-3224-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.