Clinical Evaluation Of Cytokeratin 20 MRNA And Urinary Nuclear Matrix Protein 22 In The Detection Of Urothelial Cancer

Purpose:1. To study the expression and clinical significance of CK20 mRNA in tissue specimen of urothelial cancer;2. To determine whether CK20 mRNA expression could be served as a urothelial tumor marker. Materials and Methods:RT-PCR method was used to determine the expression of CK20 mRNA in tissue specimen of 30 cases urothelial cancer, among which 26 cases were transitional cell carcinoma; While 8 cases of normal urothelium and 2 cases of other urologic disease were used as control.Results:of 30 patients with urothelial cancer, CK20 mRNA expression showed in 24 specimen, but none in 10 specimen of control group. The overall positive rate of CK20 mRNA in patients with transitional cell carcinoma was 84. 6%. CK20 mRNA was positive in 0 of the 1 Gl patients, in 10 of the 11 G2 patients , in 12 of the 14 G3 patients. No correlation was found between tumor grade,stage and CK20 mRNA expression. Conclusions:The preliminary results indicated that CK20 mRNA was expressed specially in urothelial carcinoma but not normal urothelium cells. CK20 mRNA may be used as a potential marker for urothelial tumor.