Fig. 4

Cancer-specific survival (CSS) curves for 25 metastatic RCC treated with molecular targeting therapy (MTT) under the evaluation of a high or low SOD2 expression, and of b high- (> 17) or low- (≤ 17) risk scoring in our model of risk stratification. In this sub-cohort, CSS was defined as the period from the point of initiation of MTT to the time of RCC-specific death. Shorter CSS was observed in the high SOD2 expression group (a log-rank test, p = 0.009, chi-square value = 6.80) and highest-risk (> 17) scored groups (b log-rank test, p < 0.001, chi-square value = 12.17). Compared to the highest-risk scored group, high SOD2 expression could accurately predict those patients likely to be dead within 30 months of initiation of MTT