# Correlations between biological markers of the perirenal adipose tissue and clinical features of patients with localized kidney cancer

**Authors:** Leonardo Rafael Romeo, Matías Nuñez, Matías Ferrando, Constanza Matilde López-Fontana, Rubén Walter Carón, Flavia Alejandra Bruna, Virginia Pistone-Creydt

PMC · DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1676630 · Frontiers in Medicine · 2025-11-03

## TL;DR

This study explores how proteins in kidney fat tissue correlate with kidney cancer features, potentially improving diagnosis and treatment.

## Contribution

The study introduces a new approach to kidney cancer by linking clinical features with PAT biomarkers for better prognosis and treatment.

## Key findings

- Unsupervised machine learning separated healthy and kidney tumor patients based on protein expression in hAT.
- Lower adiponectin expression was linked to undifferentiated tumors and smoking history.
- Leptin expression correlated with tumor size and dissection difficulty, influenced by factors like male sex and smoking.

## Abstract

Among the different types of cells that surround renal epithelial cells, human renal adipose tissue (hAT) is one of the most abundant. We have previously characterized the expression of different proteins in hAT (adiponectin, adiponectin receptor 1, leptin, leptin receptor, perilipin 1, and metalloprotease (1). In this study, we evaluated if the differential proteins expression as a whole was sufficient to separate healthy patients from patients with kidney cancer, using unsupervised machine learning algorithms; and the correlation between adiponectin and leptin expression with clinical characteristics of kidney cancer patients. Considering the six biological variables evaluated in the different hAT fragments, we were able to separate healthy from kidney tumor patients by unsupervised machine learning algorithms projection. In addition, a decrease in adiponectin expression was found in patients with a more undifferentiated tumor as well as in patients with a history of smoking. Also, there was a positive correlation between leptin, tumor size and difficulty in tumor dissection. The parameters that increase the difficulty in dissection are male sex, smoking history, tumor size and the fat striation degree in imaging studies. Moreover, PAT (perirenal adipose tissue)-related adipokine signatures reflect systemic metabolic dysfunction, including features of metabolic syndrome, offering additional value for anticipating surgical complexity and refining prognostic stratification. This project represents a new way of looking at kidney cancer, by correlating clinical features with specific biomarkers, we may be able to identify patterns that might predict how the disease will develop. This could lead to more accurate prognoses and more effective treatments.

## Linked entities

- **Proteins:** lepa (leptin a)
- **Diseases:** kidney cancer (MONDO:0002367), metabolic syndrome (MONDO:0000816)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (taxon 9606)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** LEP (leptin) [NCBI Gene 3952] {aka LEPD, OB, OBS}, ADIPOQ (adiponectin, C1Q and collagen domain containing) [NCBI Gene 9370] {aka ACDC, ACRP30, ADIPQTL1, ADPN, APM-1, APM1}, PLIN1 (perilipin 1) [NCBI Gene 5346] {aka FPLD4, PERI, PLIN}, LEPR (leptin receptor) [NCBI Gene 3953] {aka CD295, LEP-R, LEPRD, OB-R, OBR, huB219}, TMPRSS11D (transmembrane serine protease 11D) [NCBI Gene 9407] {aka ASP, HAT}, ADIPOR1 (adiponectin receptor 1) [NCBI Gene 51094] {aka ACDCR1, CGI-45, CGI45, PAQR1, TESBP1A}
- **Diseases:** undifferentiated tumor (MESH:D002277), tumor (MESH:D009369), metabolic dysfunction (MESH:D008659), metabolic syndrome (MESH:D024821), kidney cancer (MESH:D007680)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

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## Figures

1 figure with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12620259/full.md

## References

51 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12620259/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12620259