The Expression of Autophagy Markers Beclin۱ and LC۳B in Prostatic Carcinoma: Immunohistochemical Case-Control Study

Background and Objective: Prostatic carcinoma represents the second most common cancer diagnosed in men worldwide after lung cancer and the fourth common male malignancy in Egypt. Autophagy is a natural process that has both oncogenic and tumor-suppressive activities. This study aims to evaluate the role of Beclin۱ and LC۳B in prostatic carcinoma.Methods: This retrospective case-control study was conducted on ۱۱۰ prostate biopsies divided into two groups (۵۵ prostatic carcinoma, ۴۵ pure benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and ۱۰ BPH with adjacent prostatic carcinoma) retrieved from the archive of the Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, in the period between ۲۰۱۷ and ۲۰۲۰. All cases were stained for Beclin۱ and LC۳B antibodies. Results: There was a highly significant association between higher Beclin۱ and LC۳B immunoreactivity score and Gleason score (score ۸ and ۹) (P=۰.۰۰۲ and ۰.۰۰۰, respectively). Moreover, there was a highly significant direct association between Beclin۱ and LC۳B expression (r=۰.۵۲, P=۰.۰۰۰). Also, there was a significant stepwise increase in Beclin۱ positivity among the three studied groups starting from BPH to prostatic carcinoma passing through cases of BPH with neighboring tumor (P=۰.۰۰۰).Conclusion: From the results obtained in the present study, autophagy markers Beclin۱ and LC۳B were upregulated in prostatic carcinoma. Moreover, both were associated with bad prognostic factors. So, it might be necessary to control autophagy flux in prostatic carcinoma. This might be one of the future therapeutic targets for the management of prostatic carcinoma.

کلیدواژه ها:

Beclin۱ ، LC۳B ، Immunohistochemistry ، Prostatic carcinoma