Gene expression of insulin-like growth factors and receptors in neoplastic prostate tissues: correlation with clinico-pathological parameters.

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system has been shown to regulate prostate cancer cell growth in vitro and, possibly, in vivo. In this study we examined RNA expression of IGF ligands and their receptors in 23 paired benign and neoplastic prostate tissues. In addition to comparing gene expression of IGF ligands and receptors between benign and neoplastic tissue samples, we correlated IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFR-1, and IGFR-2 RNA levels in tumor samples with prognostic clinico-pathological parameters such as stage, grade, Gleason score, perineural or extraprostatic invasion. We found higher IGF-I RNA levels in benign vs. malignant tissues (p = 0.014), whereas IGF-II RNA expression was higher in tumors with high Gleason score (GS) (p = 0.045). Using the Spearman rank correlation test we also found a positive correlation between IGFR-2 RNA levels and GS (p = 0.01). No correlation was found between expression of IGF ligands and receptors and tumor grade, stage perineural invasion, or extraprostatic involvement. We conclude that differential expression of certain IGF system components may be important in the biology and clinical behavior of prostate cancer.