Expression of metastasis-associated protein 1 and Ezrin in bladder urothelial carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To detect the expression of metastasis- associated protein 1 (MTA- 1) and Ezrin in bladder urothelial carcinoma (BUC) and normal bladder mucosa, and to investigate their correlation with clinical pathology and prognosis. Methods The expression of MTA- 1 and Ezrin proteins was detected in 65 specimens of surgically resected BUC tissue and 30 of normal bladder mucosa with immunohistochemistry. The correlation of MTA- 1 and Ezrin expressions in BUC with clinicopathological parameters, the correlation between MTA-1 and Ezrin protein expressions and their effects on prognosis were also analyzed. Results In 65 specimens of BUC tissue, the positive rates of MTA- 1 and Ezrin expression were 72.3% (n=47) and 89.2% (n=58) , respectively, in contrast to 0% for both MTA- 1 and Ezrin expressions in 30 specimens of normal bladder mucosa, which reached the level of statistical difference (all P＜0.01). The expression of MTA- 1 in BUC tissue was closely related to the clinical stages, tumor pathological grading, metastasis and recurrence (all P＜0.01 ) , while the expression of Ezrin was closely related to the clinical stages, metastasis and recurrence (all P＜0.01 ), and the expression of MTA-1 was positively correlated with Ezrin expression (r=0.742, P＜0.01 ). The disease free survival (DFS) in patients with combined expression was significantly lower than that in those with negative expression of MTA- 1 and Ezrin (P＜0.01). Conclusion The high expression of MTA-1 and Ezrin is related to the occurrence,progression, as well as invasion and metastasis of BUC. Key words: Bladder neoplasms; Pathology, clinical; Immunohistochemistry; Tumor metastatic process-associated protein