High expression of Aldolase A predicts poor survival in patients with clear-cell renal cell carcinoma.

Aldolase A (ALDOA) is a glycolytic enzyme that drives the glycolytic metabolic pathway in mammalian cells. The overexpression of ALDOA was observed in a variety of cancers including clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). However, little was known about the clinicopathological significance and prognostic value of ALDOA in ccRCC patients. The expression of ALDOA was detected using immunohistochemical staining in 162 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded ccRCC sections. Prognostic outcomes correlated with ALDOA were examined using Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox proportional hazards model. In patients with ccRCC, increased cytoplasmic ALDOA expression was positively associated with tumor size (P=0.021), TNM stages (P=0.034), lymph node metastasis (P=0.020), and overall survival (OS) (P<0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that high cytoplasmic expression of ALDOA was associated with a statistically significant lower OS (P<0.001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that ALDOA expression was an independent and significant prognostic factor (HR =3.561, 95% CI =1.715-7.396, P=0.001). ALDOA expression was not associated with significant prognostic deference in the subgroups of TNM stage I patients or pT1 patients. Our results suggest that ALDOA expression is an independent prognostic factor for OS in patients with ccRCC.