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- Academic Editor
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Background: Cartilage acidic protein 1 (CRTAC1) is a glycosylated
calcium-binding extracellular matrix protein. The oncological functions of CRTAC1
in urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the urinary bladder (UB) and upper urinary tract
(UT) have not yet been elucidated. Based on the published UBUC transcriptome
data, we re-evaluated the differential expression profile of calcium ion
binding–related genes (GO:0005509), and we found that CRTAC1 was the
most significantly downregulated gene in UBUC progression. Therefore, we analyzed
the prognostic value and biological significance of CRTAC1 expression in UC.
Methods: We used immunohistochemistry to determine the CRTAC1 expression
levels in 340 patients with UTUC and 295 patients with UBUC. The CRTAC1
expression was compared with the clinicopathological characteristics, and the
prognostic impact of CRTAC1 on metastasis-free survival (MFS) and
disease-specific survival (DSS) was evaluated. To study the biological functions
of CRTAC1, the proliferation, migration, invasion, and tube formation abilities
of UC-derived cells were evaluated. Results: A low CRTAC1 expression
significantly correlated with high tumor stage, high histological grade,
perineural invasion, vascular invasion, nodal metastasis, and high mitotic rate
(all p