Increased Expression of TICRR Predicts Poor Clinical Outcomes: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma

Papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC), although the second-most common type of renal cell carcinoma, still lacks specific biomarkers for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. TopBP1-interacting checkpoint and replication regulator ( ) is a DNA replication initiation regulator upregulated in various cancers. We aimed to evaluate the role of in PRCC tumorigenesis and prognosis. Based on the Kidney Renal Papillary cell carcinoma Project (KIRP) on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, we determined the expression of using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. The biological functions of were evaluated using the Metascape database and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). The association between and immune cell infiltration was investigated by single sample GSEA. Logistic analysis was applied to study the correlation between expression and clinicopathological characteristics. Finally, Cox regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and nomograms were used to determine the predictive value of on clinical outcomes in PRCC patients. expression was significantly elevated in PRCC tumors ( < 0.001). Functional annotation indicated enrichment with negative regulation of cell division, cell cycle, and corresponding pathways in the high expression phenotype. High expression in PRCC was associated with female sex, younger age, and worse clinical stages. Cox regression analysis revealed that was a risk factor for overall survival [hazard ratio (HR): 2.80, = 0.002], progression-free interval (HR: 2.86, < 0.001), and disease-specific survival (HR: 7.03, < 0.001), especially in patients with male sex, age below 60 years, clinical stages II-IV and clinical T stage T1-T2. Increased expression in PRCC might play a role in tumorigenesis by regulating the cell cycle and has prognostic value for clinical outcomes.