Endoglin expression in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma is associated with intravesical recurrence after radical nephroureterectomy

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the expression and prognostic significance of endoglin in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma. Methods: zArchival formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues from 99 cases of primary upper urinary tract urothelial carcinomas treated with nephroureterectomy were retrieved. Tissue microarrays were constructed with triplicate tumor samples and paired non-neoplastic urothelium. Tissue microarrays were analyzed using immunohistochemistry for endoglin, and the associations between clinicopathological parameters and outcome were studied. Results: Endoglin expression was significantly higher in the endothelium of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinomas than in paired benign urothelium (P < 0.001). Endoglin expression was not associated with pathological T stage or tumor grade, and it was not associated with increased hazard ratios for cancer-specific mortality, tumor recurrence in the lymph node or distant metastasis. However, expression of endoglin was significantly associated with intravesical recurrence, when adjusting for other relevant clinicopathological variables (P = 0.015). Conclusions: Endoglin is overexpressed in the endothelium of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinomas when compared with normal urothelium, and this overexpression seems to be associated with a higher risk of intravesical recurrence. Therefore, endoglin could be a biomarker for the prediction of intravesical recurrence, as well as a potential therapeutic target.

Expression of Nectin-4 and PD-L1 in Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma

“…The UTUC TMA was constructed with spotted triplicate urothelial tumor samples (from dominant tumors/invasive components if present) and paired normal-appearing urothelial tissues (from the renal pelvis and ureter) obtained from 99 patients with non-metastatic UTUC, who underwent radical nephroureterectomy performed at Osaka General Medical Center, Osaka between 1997 and 2011, as described previously [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Appropriate approval was obtained from the local institutional review board (Osaka General Medical Center Institutional Review Board, Protocol Number: 25-2014, 19 June 2013) before construction and use of the TMA, and written informed consent was obtained from all patients.…”

Proteomic analysis of urinary extracellular vesicles from high Gleason score prostate cancer

“…Immunostaining was performed as previously reported 43 . Briefly, sections were deparaffinized using xylene and alcohol and incubated with 0.3% H 2 O 2 to block endogenous peroxidase activity.…”

STAT3 expression is a prognostic marker in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma

“…A UTUC tissue microarray (TMA) was constructed with spotted triplicate tumor samples from 99 patients who underwent radical nephroureterectomy performed with curative intent between 1997 and 2011 at Osaka General Medical Center, Osaka, Japan, as previously described [ 14 – 16 ]. Appropriate approval was obtained from the local institutional review board (Osaka General Medical Center Institutional Review Board, Protocol Number: 25–2014) before construction and use of the TMA, and written informed consent was obtained from all patients.…”