Clinical relevance of semaphorin-3F in patients with prostate cancer

Abstract

Purpose: To identify prognosis predictors for patients with prostate cancer (PCa). Methods: Four independent PCa microarray datasets (GSE32448, GSE16560, GSE79957 and GSE17951) were reanalyzed to characterize the expression of semaphorin-3F (SEMA3F) gene between PCa patients and normal prostate tissues and the correlation between SEMA3F expression and the age, tumor/ nodes/metastasis (TNM) staging, Gleason Grade Group, prostate-specific antigen level and overall survival of PCa patients. Gene set enrichment analysis was applied to investigate the potential relevant mechanisms regarding the expression of SEMA3F and the proliferation of PCa cells. Results: The level of SEMA3F was significantly higher in normal prostate tissues compared with that in PCa cells (P < 0.0001). Prostate cancer patients with higher expression of SEMA3F were associated with better TNM staging, Gleason Grade Group and overall survival than those with lower expression SEMA3F cohort. The result of gene set enrichment analysis indicated that SEMA3F might inhibit the proliferation of PCa cells through biological processes involving G2-mitosis checkpoint, E2F target and mitotic spindle. Conclusion: Data suggest that SEMA3F might be a tumor suppressor of PCa and a protective factor for patient with PCa.