Abstract Kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) is the most common type of kidney cancer and its pathogenesis is strongly associated with VHL–HIF–VEGF signaling. SHH ligand is the upstream SHH pathway regulator, while GLI1 is its major effector that stimulates as a transcription factor, i.a. expression of VEGFA gene. The aim of present study was to assess the prognostic significance of SHH, GLI1 and VEGFA immunoreactivity in KIRC tissues. The analysis included paired tumor and normal samples from 34 patients with KIRC. The immunoreactivity of SHH, GLI1 and VEGFA proteins was determined by immunohistochemical (IHC) renal tissues staining. The IHC staining results were assessed using the immunoreactive score (IRS) method which takes into account the number of cells showing a positive reaction and the intensity of the reaction. Increased GLI1 protein immunoreactivity was observed in KIRC tissues, especially in early-stage tumors, according to the TNM classification. Elevated expression of the VEGFA protein was noted primarily in high-grade KIRC samples according to the Fuhrman/WHO/ISUP scale. Moreover, a directly proportional correlation was observed between SHH and VEGFA immunoreactivity in TNM 3 + 4 and Fuhrman/ISUP/WHO 3 + 4 tumor tissues as well as in samples of patients with shorter survival. We also observed an association between shorter patient survival as well as increased and decreased immunoreactivity, of the VEGFA and GLI1, respectively. The aforementioned findings suggest that the expression pattern of SHH, GLI1 and VEGFA demonstrates prognostic potential in KIRC.
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