Abstract
Recent reports provided evidence that epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and some matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contribute to the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. This study investigated the expression pattern of some EMT markers (E-cadherin and Vimentin) and some MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9) in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). Fifty five paraffin embedded biopsies were included in this study. Expression pattern of E-cadherin and Vimentin was evaluated by immunohistochemistry while cytoplasmic mRNA expression of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 were determined by in situ hybridization. The expression of all markers were significantly increased with the increase of patient's age (? 50 years), and furthermore an increase in men expression when compared to women. Interestingly, all healthy tissues showed positive E-cadherin expression while they did not show any expression of Vimentin, MMP-2 and MMP-9. E-cadherin expression decreased, whereas expression of Vimentin increased according to the grade and stage of the tumor. Similarly, both MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression were increased with the progression of TCC. The current study conclude that a decrease in E-cadherin together with increased Vimentin, MMP-2 and MMP-9 are significant markers that correlate with poor prognosis of TCC.
Highlights
In terms of morbidity and mortality, transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary bladder is considered one of the most prevalent solid malignancies worldwide, with a high incidence in industrialized nations [1,2,3]
Our study tried to evaluate four biomarkers; two of which linked to epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) (E-cadherin and Vimentin) and the rest linked to tumor invasion and metastasis (MMP-2 and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)-9) to determine the occurrence of expression of these molecules in vivo and the capability of using such markers as prognostic tools of TCC
The current study revealed that the expression pattern of E-cadherin decreased and Vimentin increased according to the grade and stage of the TCC and these differences were statistically significant
Summary
In terms of morbidity and mortality, TCC of the urinary bladder is considered one of the most prevalent solid malignancies worldwide, with a high incidence in industrialized nations [1,2,3]. It accounts for 90% of bladder carcinoma and is classified into superficial (75%) and muscle invasive tumors (25%) [4]. In Iraq, bladder cancer is fifth most prevalent of all cancer types, with 1163 registered cases in 2011, and the ratio of men to women at 3:1. Since micro metastasis, is the initial and extremely important point in tumor metastasis [4], it is pivotal to recognize the molecular mechanisms leading to invasion and metastasis of bladder cancer cells
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