Nonmuscle invasive tumors of the bladder often recur and thereby bladder cancer patients need regular re-examinations which are invasive, unpleasant, and expensive. A noninvasive and less expensive method, e.g. a urine dipstick test, for monitoring recurrence would thus be advantageous. In this study, the complementary techniques mass spectrometry (MS) and Western blotting (WB)/dot blot (DB) were used to screen the urine samples from bladder cancer patients. High resolving MS was used to analyze and quantify the urinary proteome and 29 proteins had a significantly higher abundance (p<0.05) in bladder cancer samples compared with control urine samples. The increased abundance found in urine from bladder cancer patients compared with controls was confirmed with Western blot for four selected proteins; fibrinogen β chain precursor, apolipoprotein E, α-1-antitrypsin, and leucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein 1. Dot blot analysis of an independent urine sample set pointed out fibrinogen β chain and α-1-antitrypsin as most interesting biomarkers having sensitivity and specificity values in the range of 66-85%. Exploring the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) also revealed that bladder cancer tumors are the likely source of these proteins. They have the potential of being useful in diagnosis, monitoring of recurrence and thus may improve the treatment of bladder tumors, especially nonmuscle invasive tumors.

Shared senior authorshipWhat's known on the subject? and What does the study add?• The current basis for diagnosis and prognosis in urinary bladder cancer is based on the pathologists' assessment of a biopsy of the tumour. Urinary biomarkers are preferable as they can be non-invasively sampled. Urinary cytology is the only test with widespread use but is hampered by poor reproducibility and low sensitivity.• By studying the protein expression in bladder tumour tissue samples of proteins previously found in elevated levels in the urine of patients with bladder cancer, we have been able to show that these proteins originate from the tumour. The immunoreactivity of three of the investigated proteins increased with higher stage. Also a serine peptidase inhibitor was found to be predictive of progression from non-muscle-invasive to muscle-invasive tumours. Objectives• To analyse the expression of five bladder cancerassociated urinary proteins and investigate if expression is related to the malignant phenotype of the tumour.• To explore the possible prognostic value of these proteins. Patients and Methods Results• Increased expressions of APOE, FGB and POLR1E were correlated with increased tumour stage (P < 0.001).• Expression of SERPINA1 in Ta and T1 tumours was found to increase the risk of tumour progression (hazard ratio 2.57, 95% confidence interval 1.13-5.87; P = 0.025) Conclusions• All proteins previously detected in urine from patients with bladder cancer were also expressed in bladder cancer tissue. • The expression of APOE, FGB and POLR1E increased with stage and they are potential diagnostic markers. • SERPINA1 was identified as a prognostic marker candidate.

Background:The oncoprotein-18/stathmin 1 (STMN1), involved in cell progression and migration, is associated with clinical outcome in breast cancer. Here we aim to investigate its clinical significance in urinary bladder cancer and its possibilities as a therapeutic target.Methods:Immunohistochemical analyses of STMN1 protein expression were performed in three patient cohorts: cohort I (n=115 Ta, n=115 T1, n=112 T2–4 stages), cohort II, based on randomised controlled trials (n=239 T1–T4), and cohort III of primary tumour/matched metastasis (n=90 T1–T4). The effects of STMN1 on cell proliferation and migration were evaluated in the urinary bladder cancer cell line, T24, by inhibiting STMN1-cellular expression using siRNA.Results:In cohort I, high STMN1 expression correlated to shorter disease-specific survival hazard ratio (HR)=2.04 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13–3.68; P=0.02), elevated p53- (P<0.001) and Ki67-protein levels (P<0.001). The survival result was validated in cohort II: HR=1.76 (95% CI 1.04–2.99; P=0.03). In the metastatic bladder cancer material, 70% of the patients were STMN1-positive in both the primary tumour and matched metastases. In vitro, the growth and migration of the T24 cells were significantly reduced (P<0.01, P<0.0001, respectively), when transfecting the cells with STMN1-siRNA.Conclusions:STMN1 protein expression has prognostic significance but is primarily a potential treatment target in urinary bladder cancer.