Expression Of Thymidylate Synthase And Thymidine Phosphorylase In Transitional Cell Carcinoma Of The Bladder And Their Prognostic Value

Objective To investigate the expression of thymidylate synthase (TS) and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (TCCB) and their correlation with prognosis.Methods The expression of TP and TS was assessed by immunohistochemist- ry on 54 TCCB and 15 normal bladder specimens, and all these patients were retrospectively investigated after surgery. Clinicopathologic findings and three prognostic variances including relapse-free survival (RFS), disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were determined. The prognostic value of TP and TS was estimated by survival curve and Cox proportional hazards model.Results (1) Immunohistochemistry showed that 25 of 54 cases (46.30%) had high TS expression. In different WHO grade, the high expression rate of TS was 29.41% (5/17) in G1, 46.43% (13/28) in G2, 77.78%(7/9) in G3, respectively.The expression level of TS increased with tumor malignancy (P=0.03). In different UICC stage, the high expression rate of TS was 21.43%(3/14) in Ta, 26.32%(5/19) in T1, 86.67%(13/15) in T2, 66.67%(2/3) in T3, 66.67%(2/3) in T4, respectively. Patients with a more advanced stage had a significantly higher level of TS (P=0.00). Six of 15 normal bladder tissues (40.00%) also showed high TS expression. There was no significant difference in the expression of TS between TCCB and normal bladder tissues (P=0.67). (2) Thirty-one of 54 cases (57.41%) were TP positive. There was no correlation between the expression of TP and grade, stage, recurrence or survival (P>0.05). There was no TP expression in 15 cases of normal bladder tissues. (3) Kaplan-Meier analysis...