Immunohistochemical determination of ETS-1 oncoprotein expression in urothelial carcinomas of the urinary bladder.

Abstract

ETS-1 protooncogene is an important transcription factor that plays a role in the regulation of physiological processes, such as cell proliferation and differentiation. ETS-1 is thought to be related to the growth of carcinoma cells by its regulation of the transcription of matrix metalloproteinases and urokinase-type plasminogen activator. In this study, we aimed to investigate the expression pattern of ETS-1 oncoprotein in urothelial carcinomas of the urinary bladder and determine its relationship with histopathologic parameters, including tumor grade and stage. One hundred six specimens of urothelial carcinoma and a total of 14 normal urothelium were analyzed immunohistochemically with anti-ETS-1 monoclonal antibody. The normal urothelium showed positive ETS-1 immunostaining. ETS-1 expression remained high in low-grade and noninvasive tumors, whereas it frequently decreased in high-grade or invasive carcinomas. Interestingly, ETS-1 was highly expressed in the basal cell layer of the noninvasive urothelial carcinomas. ETS-1 expression showed a strong negative correlation with the tumor grade (P<0.001; r, -0.67) and stage (P<0.001; r, -0.75). The nonmuscle-invasive tumors (pTa+pT1) and noninvasive tumors (pTa) had significantly higher ETS-1 expression than the muscle-invasive tumors (pT2; P<0.001) and invasive tumors (pT1+pT2; P<0.001), respectively. Results of our study show that decreased ETS-1 expression is significantly associated with high grade and advanced stage in urothelial carcinomas of the urinary bladder, and that the downregulation of ETS-1 expression may be a marker of the aggressiveness of such malignancies.

• Authors: Aysegul Sari, Aylin Calli, Sacit Nuri Gorgel, Aysegul Aksoy Altinboga, Cengiz Kara, Cetin Dincel, Fulya Cakalagaoglu
• Journal: Applied immunohistochemistry & molecular morphology : AIMM (Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol) Vol. 20 Issue 2 Pg. 153-8 (Mar 2012) ISSN: 1533-4058 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 21623185 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• ETS1 protein, human
• Proto-Oncogene Protein c-ets-1

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Carcinoma (metabolism, pathology)
• Down-Regulation
• Female
• Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasm Grading
• Neoplasm Invasiveness
• Neoplasm Staging
• Proto-Oncogene Protein c-ets-1 (biosynthesis)
• Retrospective Studies
• Urinary Bladder Neoplasms (metabolism, pathology)
• Urothelium (metabolism, pathology)