Overexpression of Eg5 predicts unfavorable prognosis in non-muscle invasive bladder urothelial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relationship between Eg5 expression and prognosis of patients with non-muscle invasive bladder urothelial carcinoma.

METHODS

Eg5 expression was examined by immunohistochemistry in non-muscle invasive urothelial carcinoma specimens (grade: G1, 32 cases; G2, 92 cases; and G3, 39 cases. Stage: pTa, 49 cases and pT1, 114 cases). The correlation between clinicopathological characteristics and Eg5 expression was evaluated. The prognostic significance of Eg5 immunoreactivity was analyzed through survival analysis in 163 non-muscle invasive cases that were treated with transurethral resection and adjuvant intravesical instillations.

RESULTS

The expression of Eg5 was significantly associated with tumor grade (P = 0.006), with a trend towards significant association with stage (P = 0.057). The 163 patients with non-muscle invasive tumors were regularly followed with the mean of 32.52 (from 6 to 72) months. Univariate analysis showed Eg5 overexpression exhibited a significant unfavorable influence on intravesical recurrence (P = 0.012) while having only a marginal correlation with disease progression (P = 0.070). Subsequent Cox hazard multivariate analysis showed that both grade (P = 0.045) and Eg5 expression (P = 0.029) were independent predictors for early intravesical recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

Overexpression of Eg5 correlates with poor differentiation of bladder cancer, and it represents an independent prognostic factor in predicting early intravesical recurrence in non-muscle invasive bladder carcinoma patients.