Expression of phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 is associated with prognosis of Wilms' tumor.

Objective: The current study was undertaken to explore the clinical and prognostic value of phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 (PRL-3) expression in Wilms' tumor.

Methods: Seventy-six patients with Wilms' tumor in Qilu Hospital from January 2003 to July 2009 were enrolled in the study. Protein expression level of PRL-3 was examined by immunohistochemical staining, and the correlation between PRL-3 expression and histopathological parameters, clinical variables, and outcome of patients with Wilms' tumor were analyzed.

Results: We found that 19% of patients with unfavorable histology had tumor recurrence and 16% of patients died following the operation. PRL-3 was expressed in 15 out of 76 tumors (19%) and expressed highly in unfavorable histology Wilms' tumor (=0.04). PRL-3 protein expression level was correlated to 2.5-fold increase in recurrence rate of Wilms' tumor (=0.06) without any statistically significant difference. However, in favorable histology Wilms' tumor, PRL-3 expression was correlated to an increase of 3.4-fold in recurrence rate (=0.03).

Conclusion: The expression of PRL-3 protein was correlated with an increased recurrence rate of favorable histology Wilms' tumor. PRL-3 may serve as a promising biomarker for predicting patients with high risk of Wilms' tumor. Further investigations are warranted to investigate the clinical function of PRL-3 in Wilms' tumor.