High IFIT1 expression predicts improved clinical outcome, and IFIT1 along with MGMT more accurately predicts prognosis in newly diagnosed glioblastoma

SummaryInterferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeat 1 (IFIT1) plays a key role in growth suppression and apoptosis promotion in cancer cells. Interferon was reported to induce the expression of IFIT1 and inhibit the expression of O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT).This study aimed to investigate the expression of IFIT1, the correlation between IFIT1 and MGMT, and their impact on the clinical outcome in newly diagnosed glioblastoma. The expression of IFIT1 and MGMT and their correlation were investigated in the tumor tissues from 70 patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. The effects on progression-free survival and overall survival were evaluated. Of 70 cases, 57 (81.4%) tissue samples showed high expression of IFIT1 by immunostaining. The χ2 test indicated that the expression of IFIT1 and MGMT was negatively correlated (r = −0.288, P = .016). Univariate and multivariate analyses confirmed high IFIT1 expression as a favorable prognostic indicator for progression-free survival (P = .005 and .017) and overall survival (P = .001 and .001), respectively. Patients with 2 favorable factors (high IFIT1 and low MGMT) had an improved prognosis as compared with others. The results demonstrated significantly increased expression of IFIT1 in newly diagnosed glioblastoma tissue. The negative correlation between IFIT1 and MGMT expression may be triggered by interferon. High IFIT1 can be a predictive biomarker of favorable clinical outcome, and IFIT1 along with MGMT more accurately predicts prognosis in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.