You have accessJournal of UrologyBladder Cancer: Basic Research II1 Apr 2012890 INCREASED EXPRESSION OF SERUM UROPLAKIN III IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DETECTION AND PATHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF AGGRESSIVE BLADDER CANCER Kazumasa Matsumoto, Toshihide Matsumoto, Takefumi Satoh, Masatsugu Iwamura, Yuichi Sato, and Shiro Baba Kazumasa MatsumotoKazumasa Matsumoto Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author , Toshihide MatsumotoToshihide Matsumoto Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author , Takefumi SatohTakefumi Satoh Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author , Masatsugu IwamuraMasatsugu Iwamura Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author , Yuichi SatoYuichi Sato Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author , and Shiro BabaShiro Baba Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2012.02.985AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The asymmetric unit membrane is a unique plasma membrane produced by differentiated urothelial cells, which mainly comprises the four transmembrane proteins uroplakin Ia, Ib, II and III. Owing to their urothelium-specific expression, the uroplakins have been widely investigated as potential markers for the immunohistochemical staining of primary lesions, the identification of primary cancers of unknown origin in patients with metastases and gene therapy for bladder cancer; however, the role of uroplakin proteins in the bladder remains unknown. This study detected preoperative levels of uroplakin III in the serum of patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder, and examined whether the expression of this protein could predict disease progression and survival. METHODS Uroplakin III expression was measured in the serum of 52 patients with bladder urothelial carcinoma, 28 normal controls and 13 patients with other diseases including renal cell carcinomas, adrenal lesions and acute pyelonephritis. The expression of uroplakin III was correlated with the pathological features and clinical outcomes. Anti-uroplakin III antibody was detected in the serum using the automated dot blot system and a micro-dot blot array with a 256 solid-pin system. RESULTS Uroplakin III expression was significantly increased in urothelial carcinoma patients compared with normal controls and patients with other diseases (p=0.0004); there were no significant differences between the latter two groups. Increased uroplakin III expression was associated with high-grade and muscle-invasive cancers (p=0.01 and 0.0004, respectively). After adjusting for the effects of standard pathological features, only muscle-invasive cancer was found to be associated with bladder cancer progression (p=0.003) and mortality (p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS Serum uroplakin III expression was significantly higher in patients with bladder cancer than in normal controls and patients with other diseases. Incremental uroplakin III expression was also associated with established features of biologically aggressive bladder cancer such as pathological stage and grade. Although uroplakin III has limited prognostic value, its expression in serum could be a valuable marker for the detection of bladder cancer. © 2012 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 187Issue 4SApril 2012Page: e362 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2012 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Kazumasa Matsumoto Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author Toshihide Matsumoto Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author Takefumi Satoh Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author Masatsugu Iwamura Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author Yuichi Sato Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author Shiro Baba Sagamihara, Japan More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...