Association of baculoviral inhibitor of apoptosis repeat-containing 5 in the survival of clear cell renal cell carcinoma patients: In silico analysis

Purpose Inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) regulate several cellular processes and impacts tumor development, progression and resistance to therapy in several cancers. Baculoviral inhibitor of apoptosis repeat-containing 5 (BIRC5) is a member of the IAP family, which block the release of caspases from the mitochondria, a step in the cell death signaling pathway, allowing uncontrolled growth. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the 4th most common variant of renal cell carcinoma. The objective of this study is to determine the association of BIRC 5 in the survival of ccRCC patients and evaluate the expression of BIRC 5 with the survival of patients of differing race/ethnicity. Methods Data was obtained from the online data sets (The Cancer Genome Atlas utilizing the UALCAN platform). Data of all patients (both genders and all races) revealed that BIRC5 is over-expressed in ccRCC tumors when compared to normal tissue. Results Data analysis showed significant relationship between low BIRC5 expression and higher survival probability than those with tumors that expressed high levels of BIRC5 expression, especially in Caucasians. The African American group did not have a statistical difference in survival probability between the low expression and high expression groups. There was no statistical difference in survival probability when comparing males to females or Caucasians to African Americans with the same level of BIRC5 expression. Conclusion Considering the strong association of BIRC5 with ccRCC, BIRC5 potentially serve as a predictor of prognosis and a target of treatment for improving the outcomes in ccRCC patients.