Angiogenin Upregulation Independently Predicts Unfavorable Overall Survival in Proneural Subtype of Glioblastoma

OBJECTIVE: Angiogenin is a small protein that exerts potent stimulating effects on angiogenesis. In this study, we aimed to examine the expression of angiogenin in different subtypes of glioblastoma and estimated its independent prognostic value. METHODS: The genomic and survival data from The Cancer Genome Atlas-glioblastoma were extracted for a secondary study. Results The expression of angiogenin was upregulated in glioblastoma tissues and varied significantly in different subtypes. Although the proneural subtype had the lowest angiogenin expression, high angiogenin expression was associated with significantly worse overall survival. However, this association was not observed in other subtypes. By performing univariate and multivariate analysis using Cox regression model, we observed that high angiogenin expression was an independent indicator of shorter overall survival in proneural glioblastoma (hazard ratio: 1.669, 95% confidence interval: 1.033-2.696, P = .036), after adjustment of age, gender, isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 mutation, temozolomide chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In addition, we also observed a correlation between elevated angiogenin expression and the hypomethylated status of its DNA. The hypermethylation group had significantly better overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Angiogenin upregulation might serve as a biomarker for unfavorable overall survival in the proneural subtype of glioblastoma.