Correlation between the expression of androgen receptor mRNA and the long-term tumor-specific and recurrence-free survival rate in patients with T1 bladder cancer

Abstract

Objective To investigate the predictive value of androge receptors in stage pT1 non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Methods A total of 196 patients with stage pT1 non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer who underwent a transurethral resection of the bladder in Baoji People′s Hospital from February 2003 to June 2012 were recruited to carry a retrospective analysis. The mRNA expression of the androge receptors transcript variants 1 (AR1) and 2 (AR2) was measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Spearman′s correlation coefficient was used to analysis the correlation of androge receptors mRNA level to KRT5 and KRT20 mRNA. Results Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the recurrence-free survival, progression-free survival and cancer specific survival of patients with high AR1 mRNA expression (≥35.47) were significant better than patients with low AR1 mRNA expression (P<0.05). Multivariate COX regression analysis revealed that high AR1 mRNA expression was an independent prognostic marker for recurrence-free survival and cancer specific survival (P<0.05). Spearman rank correlation revealed a significant positive association between mRNA expression of AR1 and KRT5 (rs=0.3171, P<0.001) as well as a negative association with multifocal tumors (rs=0.1478, P<0.05). Conclusion Androge receptors mRNA expression can predict recurrence-free survival and cancer specific survival in patients with stage T1 non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Further studies on the levels of androge receptors mRNA tend to be particularly important. Key words: Receptors, androge; Urinary bladder neoplasms; RNA, messenger; Survival