Background/aim: Low-grade gliomas (LGG) are heterogenous tumours, causing variable survivals in patients. Identifying molecular markers for a more accurate prognosis is, therefore, important. Since death receptor 6 (DR6) is up-regulated in gliomas and shows an aberrant signalling network, we tested its suitability as a prognostic marker.
Materials and methods: DR6 was investigated in patient samples via PCR and western blot. Clinical data were analysed and compared to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) 'brain lower grade glioma' dataset.
Results: DR6 was found to be enhanced in LGG and its expression increased in recurrent LGG. The receptor showed a protective effect in primary LGG with a significantly elongated progression-free survival that was confirmed in the TCGA study. This effect was reversed in relapsed LGG in which cases with high DR6 expression reveal a shorter overall survival.
Conclusion: DR6 is an interesting candidate for further studies regarding its effect as a prognostic marker, playing an opposing role in primary and relapsed LGG.
Keywords: Death receptor 6; glioma; low-grade glioma; prognosis; survival; tumor necrosis factor receptor 21.
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