Immunohistochemical expression of the ERG gene in prostatic adenocarcinoma and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters

Prostate cancer is a significant cause of mortality in men. Many genes have been identified in the carcinogenesis of the prostate. One of these genes is ERG, the most widely studied oncogenic gene in prostate cancer during recent years. This study aimed to determine the immunohistochemical expression of the ERG gene in prostatic adenocarcinoma and to demonstrate the relationship between clinicopathological parameters and ERG. Prostatectomy materials of 122 patients diagnosed as prostate adenocarcinoma between 2004 and 2017 in Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology were included in the study. ERG expression, age, prostate-specific antigen levels, Gleason pattern and score, Gleason grade, and pathological stage data were collected. The mean age of the patients was 62.66±5.81 years, and total preoperative PSA was 10.40±8.88 ng/ml. ERG was positive in 52.46% of the patients. Prostate-specific antigen levels of ERG positive and negative samples were similar (p = 0.935). There was no significant relationship between Gleason score and ERG positivity (p = 0.197). ERG expression did not change in terms of age groups (p = 0.441) and tumor stage (p = 0.371). This study showed that rate of ERG positivity was high in patients and that ERG positivity was not associated with clinical and pathological features such as prostate specific antigen levels, Gleason score, age and pathological stage.