Differential up-regulation of erythropoietin and its receptor in benign and malignant prostatic tissue

PurposeTo investigate differential up-regulation of erythropoietin and its receptor in benign and malignant prostatic tissue.Materials and methodsAn immunohistochemical analysis of EPO and EPOR expression was performed on 30 cases of prostate carcinoma (PCa) with 16 high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), 50 cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) lesions, and 30 normal prostatic tissue samples as control.ResultsOver-expression of EPOR was only shown in PCa and high-grade PIN tissue but over-expression of EPO was also shown in BPH tissue. There was significant relationship between EPO and EPOR score in BPH, high-grade PIN, and PCa but no association between EPOR or EPO score and Gleason score in PCa.ConclusionsUp-regulation of EPOR has a more important role in comparison with EPO in prostate carcinogenesis. Differential over-expression of EPOR and EPO in benign and malignant prostatic tissue is ascribed to different mechanisms involved in up-regulation between EPO and EPOR.