Objectives: To identify stem cell markers aldehyde dehydrogenase type 1 (ALDH-1) and nestin expression in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
Materials and methods: 95 RCC patients who had radical or partial nephrectomy were included in this study. Normal renal tissue samples of the same patients were designated as the control group. Paraffin blocks of RCC patients were studied immunohistochemically. Expressions were analyzed semiquantitively. Relation of tumor grade and stage with these expressions was determined. Results were calculated with Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests.
Results: There were 55 male (57.8%) and 40 (42.2%) female patients in the study. Age and sex of the patients were not correlated with their antibody expressions (p > 0.05). ALDH-1 and nestin expression was higher in cancer tissues than normal tissues (p < 0.05). Nestin expression in renal cencer tissue was inversely related with tumor stage (p < 0.05) but there was no relation with Fuhrman grade. ALDH-1 expression was correlated with tumor grade (p < 0.05) but not with tumor stage (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: ALDH-land nestin expression have a role in RCC pathophysiology. There is a need to perform more studies about stem cell markers in RCC with more patients and in these future studies lymph node metastasis, distant organ metastasis and survival rates should be included.