Piezo-Type Mechanosensitive Ion Channel Component 1 (PIEZO1) as a Potential Prognostic Marker in Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common histological subtype of kidney cancer and is often diagnosed at advanced stages. PIEZO1, a mechanosensitive ion channel, has been implicated in cancer progression, but its prognostic relevance in ccRCC remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the expression pattern of PIEZO1 in ccRCC and its association with clinicopathological characteristics and patient survival. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissues from 111 patients with ccRCC, along with 23 matched peritumoral non-cancerous tissues. Protein expression was quantified using the H-score system. Associations with tumor grade, staging, and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. mRNA expression data were retrieved from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to validate the protein-level findings. Functional enrichment and pathway analyses were conducted to explore the biological context of PIEZO1-related gene expression. PIEZO1 showed predominantly cytoplasmic localization, with significantly lower expression in tumor tissues compared to adjacent non-malignant tissue (p < 0.0001). High PIEZO1 expression was correlated with higher tumor grade (p = 0.0147) and shorter OS (p = 0.0047). These findings were confirmed at the mRNA level in the TCGA cohort. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified PIEZO1 as an independent prognostic factor for OS. In conclusion, PIEZO1 may serve as a clinically relevant biomarker in ccRCC. Its overexpression is associated with more aggressive tumor characteristics and poor prognosis, underscoring the need for further investigation into its functional role and potential as a therapeutic target.