Table 2.
Clinical studies exploring prognostic significance of EPO and EPOR expression in cancer patients.
| Study (reference) | No. of patients (cancer type) | Therapy | EPO expression as PF (method) | EPOR expression as PF (method) | Other observations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seibold et al. (178) | N = 114 (head and neck SCC) | S, Rx, | IPF – no EPO: ↑LRC, ↑MFS, ↑OS | IPF – no EPOR: ↑OS | |
| Lin et al. (180) | N = 256 (oral SCC) | S | / | IPF – ↑EPOR: ↑ATB, ↓OS, ↓DSS (qPCR, WB, IHC) | |
| Wang et al. (120) | N = 172 (GAC) | IPF – ↓OS; ↑EPO: ↑EPOR, ↑ATB, ↑MD (IHC) | ↑EPOR: ↑ATB, ↑MD (IHC) | ↑VEGF- ↓EPOR | |
| Welsch et al. (177) | N = 104 (PDAC) | IPF, ↑sEPO: ↓OS (qPCR, ELISA, IHC) | (qPCR, IHC) | ||
| Gombos et al. (184) | N = 24 (colorectal AC) | ↑EPO (IHC, qPCR, WB) | ↑EPOR (IHC, qPCR, WB) | ↑EPO and EPOR in ischemia/necrosis | |
| Beschorner et al. (185) | N = 43 (CPT) | / | ↓EPOR (IHC, qPCR, WB) | ||
| Rades et al. (179) | N = 62 (NSCLC) | Rx | IPF; no EPO: ↑LRC, ↑OS | ↑EPO and ↑EPOR: ↓PF | |
| Volgger et al. (181) | N = 107 (breast) | ESA | / | ↑EPOR: ↑ER and ↑PR, ↑CRR, ↔OS (IHC, qPCR, WB) | |
| Xu et al. (186) | N = 96 (prostate: PCa, PIN, BPH) | ↑EPO (BPH) (IHC) | ↑EPOR (PCa, PIN) (IHC) | ||
| Liang et al. (57) | N = 55/37 (breast) | TZ, ESA | / | ↑EPOR and ↑HER2: ↓TR to TZ, ↓PFS, ↓OS (IHC) | |
| Mirmoham-medsadegh et al. (187) | N = 20 (melanoma) | / | ↑EPOR (qPCR, IHC, WB) | ||
| Giatromanolaki et al. (182) | N = 72 (endometry) | / | ↑EPOR: ↑ATB, ↓PF (IHC) | ↑EPOR- ↑HIF1α- ↑VEGF | |
| Larsson et al. (56) | N = 500 (breast: ER + , PR +) | TAM | (qPCR, ELISA) | ↑EPOR: ↓TR to TAM (qPCR, IHC) | |
| Li et al. (119) | N = 65 (tongue SCC) | S | IPF (IHC) | IPF (IHC) | |
| Miller et al. (73) | N = 159 (various) | ESA | (qPCR) | ↔PFS, ↑EPOR: ↓PFS in unresected T (qPCR) | JAK2, HSP70 |
| Küster et al. (183) | N = 131 (meningioma) | / | ↓EPOR: ↑CRR (IHC, qPCR, WB) | EPOR-F, EPOR-T, EPOR-S |
Disease/cancer type: BPH, benign prostatic hyperplasia; CPT, choroid plexus tumors (glioma, meningioma); ER+, estrogen receptor positive; GAC, gastric adenocarcinoma; NSCLC, non-small-cell lung cancer; PR+, progesterone receptor positive; SCC, squamous cell carcinoma; PCa, prostate carcinoma; PDAC, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; PIN, prostate intraepithelial neoplasia. Therapy: ESA, erythropoiesis-stimulating agent; Rx, radiotherapy; S, surgery; TAM, tamoxifen; TZ, trastuzumab. Prognostic factor and observations: ATB, aggressive tumor behavior (TNM stage, T and N classification); CRR, cancer recurrence rate; DSS, disease-specific survival; IPF, independent prognostic factor; LRC, loco-regional control; MD, microvessel density; MFS, metastases-free survival; OS, overall survival; PF, prognostic factor; PFS, progression-free survival; sEPO, serum EPO; TR, tumor response; ↑/ ↓/ ↔, increased/decreased/no significant difference. Methods: IHC, immunohistochemistry; qPCR, quantitative PCR; WB, Western blotting.