IFI16 Can Be Used as a Biomarker for Diagnosis of Renal Cell Carcinoma and Prediction of Patient Survival

Abstract

The incidences of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) increase in number each year and account for about 2-3% of all malignant tumors. Many patients have metastasis by the time of diagnosis, and their prognosis is poor. Therefore, it is essential that new diagnostic and prognostic markers for kidney cancer are identified. In this study, we assessed the potential of <i>IFI16</i> as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for RCC. We analyzed the TCGA and UALCAN databases and found <i>IFI16</i> to be highly expressed in ccRCC. In addition, high <i>IFI16</i> levels positively correlated with lymphatic metastasis, tumor stage, and histopathological grade. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed that <i>IFI16</i> expression was related to the prognosis of patients, and high <i>IFI16</i> expression indicated a worse overall survival (<i>p</i> = 5.1E-0.7). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that a combination of <i>IFI16</i> expression and histopathological grade improved predictive accuracy (AUC = 0.697; 95%CI: 0.628-0.765, <i>P</i> < 0.001). Finally, the relative levels of <i>IFI16</i> in ACHN and Caki-1 cells were higher than that of HK-2 cells by western blotting analysis and RT-PCR. Functional tests showed that knocking down <i>IFI16</i> expression inhibited migration and invasion <i>in vitro</i>. Therefore, <i>IFI16</i> is a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of RCC patients.