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March 4, 2026

PARP1 and BRCA1/2 expression and overall survival in high risk of recurrence localized clear cell-type renal cell carcinoma.

Key Points

The aim is to explore the relationship between PARP1 and BRCA1/2 expression and overall survival in high-risk localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
Reviewed bulk RNA sequencing and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas for high-risk localized clear cell RCC.
Classified gene expression levels as high or low based on median mRNA levels.
Performed survival analyses using Kaplan-Meier and compared groups with Mann-Whitney test.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 were upregulated by 1.6 and 3.7-fold in high-risk localized clear cell RCC versus normal controls (p < 0.0001).
High BRCA2 expression was linked to a 66% reduced risk of death compared to low BRCA2 (HR 0.34, p = 0.0008).
Patients with high BRCA2 and low PARP1 showed the most significant survival advantage, with HR 0.19 (p = 0.067).
High BRCA1 expression was also linked to better overall survival (HR 0.53, p = 0.04), but PARP1 levels didn't influence this outcome.

Abstract

514 Background: Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) senses single strand DNA damage and catalyzes repair mechanisms. PARP inhibitor (PARPi) suppresses PARP1 activity and promotes cell death in BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutated cancers that are homologous recombination repair deficient (HRD) via a phenomenon known as “synthetic lethality”. Utility of PARPi in HRD-negative (HRDn) cancers remain uncertain, although in a preclinical study overexpression—but not endogenous levels—of BRCA2 in mouse hybridoma cells led to HRD and increased sensitivity to DNA crosslinking agents, suggesting potential sensitization to PARPi. In renal cell carcinoma (RCC), HRD mutations are rare and the role of PARPi remains investigational. In this study, PARP1 and BRCA1/2 expression and overall survival (OS) in high risk of recurrence localized clear cell-type renal carcinoma (hrr-ccRCC) were explored. Methods: Batch-corrected bulk mRNA profile (RNA Seq V2 RSEM) and clinical data of HRDn stages II grade 4-only (n = 4) and III (n = 100) ccRCC from The Cancer Genome Atlas Pan-Cancer project were reviewed. Gene expression was classified “high” if mRNA level is higher than median, otherwise it was classified “low”. Survival analyses were Log-rank Kaplan-Meier. Group comparisons were two-tailed Mann-Whitney test. Results: In HRDn hrr-ccRCC (n = 104), BRCA1 and BRCA2 were upregulated by median fold change (mFC) of 1.6 and 3.7, respectively, whereas PARP1 was downregulated by mFC 0.8 compared to normal control (n = 72, all p < 0.0001). BRCA1 and BRCA2 levels were positively correlated (R 2 = 0.71). Median duration of follow-up for OS was 36.5 months (IQR 20.9-60.0). High BRCA2 (n = 54) was associated with superior OS compared to low BRCA2 (n = 50) with hazard ratio (HR) for death at 0.34 (95% CI 0.19-0.63, p = 0.0008). When high BRCA2 group was further stratified by PARP1 level, those with concomitant low PARP1 (n = 16) trended towards a superior OS compared to those with high PARP1 (n = 38) with HR 0.19 (95% CI 0.06-0.60, p = 0.067). Similarly, high BRCA1 (n = 53) was associated with superior OS compared to low BRCA1 (n = 51) with HR 0.53 (95% CI 0.29-0.96, p = 0.04). However, no differential OS was seen when high BRCA1 group was stratified by PARP1 level. No differential OS was seen when low BRCA1 or low BRCA2 groups were stratified by PARP1 level. Conclusions: In this retrospective analysis of HRDn hrr-ccRCC, high BRCA2 was associated with superior OS which was more pronounced with concomitant low PARP1 . High BRCA1 was also associated with superior OS, but PARP1 levels had no influence. The findings of this study may imply a potential therapeutic value of PARP1 suppression with PARPi by mimicking low PARP1 expression in treating HRDn hrr-ccRCC with BRCA2 overexpression. Further investigation is warranted.

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