Investigations in the molecular events of Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder

Abstract

Problem Statement: Transitional Cell Carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder is a significant health problem worldwide. The molecular mechanisms of tumor development and progression are complicated but likely involve the interaction of tumor suppressor genes, oncogenes, cell cycle regulatory proteins and other factors. Hence this study tries to explore the role of p53, bcl-2, c-myc and Ki-67 in TCC of the bladder in correlation with different clinicopathological criteria which are tumor grade, muscle invasion by the tumor and disease presentation, primary or recurrent tumor. Approach: Thirty patients with TCC of the bladder were involved in the period from March 2007 -May 2008. Tumors were diagnosed by histopathology and compared with 20 control subjects. The expressions of p53, bcl-2, c-myc and Ki-67 proteins were investigated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results: Increased expression of p53 and bcl-2 was associated with tumor grade and muscle invasion (p<0.05), but not with disease presentation (p>0.05). C -myc expression was only associated with muscle invasion (p<0.05). Ki-67 was associated with tumor grade, muscle invasion and tumor presentation (p<0.05). The correlation among these cell cycle proteins was generally significantly positive except for the correlation between bcl-2 and c-myc was poor. Conclusions: There was a significant oncogenic role of p53 and bcl-2 on TCC in terms of muscle invasion and tumor grade. C-myc was associated only with tumor invasiveness and Ki-67 proved to act as a reliable prognostic factor of TCC. This could highlight the hot targets of TCC anti-cancer therapy and the reliable targets for disease prognosis.

Immunohistochemical Expression of Retinoblastoma Gene Product and p53 Protein in Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder and its Relationship to Different Clinicopathological Parameters

“…These differences could be explained the selection criteria and sample size. In this study, 14 (43.8%) out of 32 patients were with low grade TCC while 18(56.2%) were with high grade TCC which disagree with other study done by Kadhim et al [37] there sample where include in the region of Middle East (Jordan, Syria and Iraq) who found that 66% of cases where with high grade tumor versus 33% where of low grade tumor. Probably, different environmental and ethnic factors operate in these three countries.…”

Pro- and Antiapoptotic Markers in Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma Associated with Balkan Endemic Nephropathy

“…Another famous antiapoptotic protein, Bcl-2, prevents Bax/Bak interaction, subsequent cytochrome c release, and caspase activation [ 39 ]. Aberrant Bcl-2 staining expressed significant association with tumor grade and tumor invasiveness in the TCC of the bladder [ 37 , 40 ].…”

Anti-Carcinoma, Anti-Obesity, Antidiabetic and Immune Defence Effects of <I>Vernonia amygdalina</I> Leaf Extract and Leaf Powder, in Two Human Cancer Patients

“…This innate ability of V. amygdalina leaf extract to recognize the cancer patient's normal body cells as "self" cells and to recognize the malignant cancerous cells as "non self" cells that must be destroyed/inhibited from proliferating is a demonstration of the immune defence properties of Vernonia amygdalina leaf extract. The cancer tissue cytotoxicity/inhibition effects of Vernonia amygdalina leaf extract and powder obtained in these two therapeutic cases are concluded to be a demonstration of the free radical immune defence/antibody properties (Barrett and Blanc, 2009;Kadhim et al, 2008) of Vernonia amygdalina leaf extract and powder.…”