Background: Arylsulfatase B (ARSB) removes the 4-sulfate group from chondroitin 4-sulfate (C4S) and dermatan sulfate and is required for their degradation. Prior work showed that ARSB immunohistochemical scores were lower in malignant prostate tissue, and were associated with higher Gleason scores and recurrence.
Objective: This study aims to confirm that ARSB immunostaining of prostate tissue obtained at the time of radical prostatectomy is prognostic for prostate cancer recurrence.
Methods: Intensity and distribution of ARSB immunostaining were digitally analyzed in a large, well-annotated, prostate cancer tissue microarray (TMA). Scores were calculated for stroma and epithelium and compared for 191 cases, including 36 recurrences, defined as PSA > 0.2 ng/ml.
Results: Epithelial scores were significantly lower in the recurrences (p= 0.010), and among subgroups with age > 60, initial PSA > 6 ng/ml, or Gleason grade = 7. ARSB score did not improve the prediction of recurrence in multifactorial analysis.
Conclusions: Study findings validate previous findings and provide further evidence that lower ARSB is associated with prostate cancer recurrence. Additional studies are required to assess if there are specific cutoff values that may help predict recurrence.
Keywords: N-acetylgalactosamine-4-sulfatase; Sulfatase; chondroitin sulfate; glycosaminoglycans; immunohistochemistry; versican.