Expression of c-erbB-2, c-myc, c-fos, bcl-2, p53, PCNA, and TGF-alpha in Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder

ABSTRACT

Most of malignant tumors in the urinary bladder is transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) deriving from the urothelium. Clinical stage and histopathologic grading of the TCC of the urinary bladder is important in the determination of the patient's prognosis. To investigate the correlation between the prognostic factors and the expression of the various oncoproteins and growth factors in each grade of the TCC, immunohistochemical stains for c-erbB2, c-myc, c-fos, bcl-2, p53, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) were performed in the formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues of the TCC (Grade I; 15 cases, Grade II; 20 cases, Grade III; 15 cases) of the urinary bladder. The immunoexpression rate of c-erbB2 was immunoexpression 78.0% in the grade I, 85.0% in the grade II, and 95.0% in the grade III TCC. The immunoexpression rate of c-myc, c-fos and bcl-2 was below 5% in each grades of TCC. The p53 immunoexpression was identified in 11.5%, 24.3% and 30.6% of the grade I, II, and III TCC, respectively. The PCNA and TGF-alpha expression was 53.0% and 27.6% in the grade I, 77.3% and 32.7% in the grade II, and 78.2% and 37.3% in the grade III TCC, respectively. These results suggest that the expressions of c-myc, c-fos, bcl-2, and TGF-alpha are similar in each grade of the TCC and the positivity of c-erbB2, p53, and PCNA shows an increasing tendency for the higher grade TCC of the urinary bladder. Therefore, c-erbB2, p53, and PCNA are clinically useful predictors of the patient's prognosis.