Expression And Clinical Significance Of Thrombospondin-1 And Transforming Growth Factor Alpha In Transitional Cell Carcinoma Of The Bladder

Objective:To investigate the expression and significance of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α) in transitional cell carcinoma of bladder and its relationship with microvessel density (MVD) to the tumor angiogenesis.Methods:The expression of TSP-1 and TGF-αwas detected in 85 transitional cell carcinoma of bladder tissues had been confirmed by pathology, and 32 normal in control cases in paraffin embedded slices by immunohistochemical method, all from the patients underwent surgical radical or partial cystectomy and transurethral resection of bladder tumor in the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University bewteen Sept 2007 to May 2009, adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and papillary epithelioma were excluded, meanwhile used CD34 as marker to count MVD. and its correlations of clinicopathologic features were analyzed.Results:The positive rates of TSP-1 expression in transitional cell carcinoma of bladder and normal bladder mucosa specimens were 30.6%(26/85) and 65.6%(21/32) (P<0.01), respectively. There was close inverse correlation to tumor grade, clinical stage and tumor metastasis. The positive rates of TGF-a expression in bladder transitional cell carcinoma and normal bladder mucosa specimens were 74.1%(63/85) and 21.9%(7/32) (P<0.01), respectively. There was no obvious correlation to tumor grade, clinical stage and tumor metastasis. The mean value of MVD was (66.54±16.19)/mm2 in transitional cell carcinoma of bladder tissues, which were significantly higher than those in the normal bladder mucosa tissues [(43.56±11.62)/mm2] (P<0.01).Conclusions:The expression of TSP-1 was down-regulated in bladder transitional cell carcinoma compared with normal bladder mucosa specimens and there was close inverse correlation to tumor grade, clinical stage and tumor metastasis. Whereas the expression of TGF-αwas increased, the mean value of MVD was simultaneous higher than in the normal bladder mucosa tissues. The abnormal expression of which suggested that TSP-1 and TGF-αwas a significant suppressor and promoter respectively, were intimate correlation factors to participate in accommodate transitional cell carcinoma of bladder neovascularization and perhaps in tumorigenesis, is expected to be potentially useful for assessing tumor malignany and a novel target for therapeutic intervention against TCCB.