Muc7 And Ck20 Expression In Exfoliated Urothelial Cells Of The Urine In Patients With Bladder Cancer

Objective: This paper is aimed to study whether it can provide a novel noninvasive tool for the diagnosis of bladder transtional cell carcinoma BTCC the bladder by detection of Muc7 and Ck20 mRNA expression in urine using RT-PCR.Methods: The morning urine samples of 42 patients with BTCC, 20 patients with urinary cancers except bladder, 10 nonneoplastic urinary diseases patients and 10 healthy volunteers were collected.The expression of Muc7, Ck20 mRNA and β-actin in exfoliated urinary cells were determined by usingRT-PCR.Results: (1) 36 of 42 (85.7%) patients with BTCC showed a positive MUC7 mRNA expression and 34 of 42 (80.9%) showed a positive CK20 expression in urine.Only 2 of 40 (5.0%) and 12 of 40 (30%) showed positive mRNA expression of MUC7 and CK20 expression in control group. The sensitivity in detecting MUC7 and CK20 mRNA expression for diagnosis of BTCC is 85.7% and 80.9%, respectively. Higher specificity was observed in MUC7 mRNA expression detection than that in CK20 (95% vs 70%, P<0.01). According to different clinical staging (Ta—T₁, T_2-4), the expression rate of MUC7 and CK20 mRNA was 64.3% (9/14), 85.7%(12/14) and 96.4%(27/28) , 78.5%(22/28), respectively indicated that mRNA expression of MUC7 had a positive correlation with the increasing stage of BTCC, But COO expression hadn't this correlation . As for the different state in pathology of BTCC, The expression rates of MUC7 and CK20 according to: G,,G2iandG3wereG158.3% (7/12), 83% (10/12) ;G293.8% (15/16), 81.2% (13/16) ;G3100% (14/14), 78.5%(11/14), respectively. As a result, the mRNA expression of MUC7 was positively correlated with the pathologic grading of BTCC while no significant difference was founded in CK20 mRNA expression. Furthermore, the positive and negative prospective values of the two gene mRNA expression rate were 94.7%, 86.3%, 73.9% and 77.8%, respectively.Conclusions: l.the positive expression rate of MUC7 and CK20 in exfoliated urothelial cell of urine in patients with BTCC is 85.7% and 80.9%, respectively, which is significantly hinher than that in control group (5% and 30%);2. The sensitivity, specificity and the positive prospective values for diagnosis of BTCC by detecting MUC7 expression using RT-PCR are all superior than CK20.3. MUC7 expression is positively correlated with the staging and grading of BTCC,while CK20 has no this correlation.