Fus Łukasz Piotr, Pihowicz Paweł, Koperski Łukasz, Marczewska Janina Maja, Górnicka Barbara
Department of Pathology, Medical University of Warsaw, Pawińskiego 7, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Pathology, Medical University of Warsaw, Pawińskiego 7, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland.
Ann Diagn Pathol. 2018 Apr;33:40-44. doi: 10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2017.12.002. Epub 2017 Dec 13.
HuR (human antigen R) protein is a RNA binding protein that stabilizes the mRNA and controls the translation of genes involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, and carcinogenesis. Overexpression of HuR was reported in a variety of cancers, however its clinical significance in urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) is still unknown. Our aim is to investigate the association between HuR expression and selected histopathological factors, such as tumor grade, pT stage, regional lymph nodes status and microvessel density (MVD).
We studied expression of HuR protein in 119 patients with UBC in stages pTis and pTa-pT4 using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Tumor MVD was evaluated immunohistochemically using anti-CD31 antibody.
We observed no association between nuclear HuR immunoreactivity and tumor grade, stage or MVD. We found a significant association between cytoplasmic HuR positivity and high tumor grade, pT stage and MVD (p<0,001). We also observed significantly higher MVD values in cases with positive cytoplasmic HuR expression (p<0,001). No association between HuR immunoreactivity and lymph nodes status was found.
Our results may suggest that HuR is involved in the process of acquiring malignant histopathological features and ability to invade the muscularis propria by UBC cells. Considering frequent difficulties in diagnosing UBC in specimens obtained from transurethral tumor resection and the risk of understaging, cytoplasmic HuR expression would suggest an advanced disease and necessitate serial sectioning of the specimen in search of muscle invasion. Association between HuR expression and MVD could suggest HuR involvement in the process of angiogenesis in UBC.
HuR（人抗原R）蛋白是一种RNA结合蛋白，可稳定mRNA并控制参与细胞增殖、分化和致癌作用的基因的翻译。据报道，HuR在多种癌症中过表达，但其在膀胱尿路上皮癌（UBC）中的临床意义仍不清楚。我们的目的是研究HuR表达与选定的组织病理学因素之间的关联，如肿瘤分级、pT分期、区域淋巴结状态和微血管密度（MVD）。
我们使用免疫组织化学（IHC）研究了119例pTis和pTa - pT4期UBC患者中HuR蛋白的表达。使用抗CD31抗体通过免疫组织化学评估肿瘤MVD。
我们未观察到核HuR免疫反应性与肿瘤分级、分期或MVD之间的关联。我们发现细胞质HuR阳性与高肿瘤分级、pT分期和MVD之间存在显著关联（p<0.001）。我们还观察到细胞质HuR表达阳性的病例中MVD值显著更高（p<0.001）。未发现HuR免疫反应性与淋巴结状态之间的关联。
我们的结果可能表明，HuR参与了UBC细胞获得恶性组织病理学特征和侵犯固有肌层的能力的过程。考虑到经尿道肿瘤切除标本中UBC诊断的常见困难以及分期不足的风险，细胞质HuR表达提示疾病进展，需要对标本进行连续切片以寻找肌肉浸润。HuR表达与MVD之间的关联可能表明HuR参与了UBC的血管生成过程。
