Impact of Caveolin-1 Expression and Microvessel Density on the Prognosis of Upper Urinary Tract Transitional Cell Carcinoma

PURPOSE: Caveolin-1 is a principal component of caveolae membranes and plays a regulatory role in several signal pathways. It may also be crucial in the organization of caveolae of endothelial cells and in regulating endothelial cell differentiation and angiogenesis. Caveolin-1 has been reported to be dysregulated in various human cancers, but the pattern of dysregulation and presumably the role of caveolin-1 appear to vary with tumor type. Caveolin-1 has not previously been studied in upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma (UUT-TCC). In this study, I investigated the relationship of caveolin-1 expression and microvessel density (MVD), a reflection of angiogenesis, with prognosis in patients with UUT-TCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections of UUT-TCC from 98 patients who had undergone radical nephroureterectomy were stained immunohistochemically with specific antibodies against caveolin-1 and CD34. Caveolin-1 immunostaining was semi-quantitatively evaluated based on proportion (percentage of positive cells) and intensity, and then immunoreactive scores for each case were generated by multiplying the values for the two parameters. A score of 0 was considered as negative, while all other scores were considered as positive. The expression patterns of caveolin-1 and MVD were compared with the various clinicopathological variables, including T stage, N stage, nuclear grade, tumor location, previous history of bladder cancer, coexisting bladder cancer at diagnosis, bladder cancer recurrence during follow-up, and cancer-specific survival. RESULTS: Caveolin-1 expression correlated significantly with T stage (p<0.001) and grade (p=0.036). MVD correlated significantly with T stage (p<0.001), N stage (p=0.002), and grade (p<0.001). Caveolin-1 expression was significantly associated with MVD (p=0.015). The survival rate of patients with positive caveolin-1 expression or high MVD was significantly lower than that of patients with negative caveolin-1 expression or low MVD, respectively (p<0.0001, p=0.0283). Univariate analyses indicated that T stage, grade, caveolin-1 expression and MVD were significant prognostic factors for cancer-specific survival. Multivariate analyses indicated that T stage and caveolin-1 expression were independent prognostic factors for cancer-specific survival. CONCLUSIONS: Increased expressions of caveolin-1 and MVD are associated with poor prognosis in UUT-TCC. Furthermore, caveolin-1 expression was associated with MVD. These results suggest that caveolin-1 may play an important role in the progression of UUT-TCC by regulating tumor angiogenesis.

Author dc:creator

• 조, 대성

Contributors dc:contributor

• 김, 세중
• 대학원 의학과
• 104300

• Carcinoma
• Transitional cell
• Urinary tract
• Caveolin-1
• Angiogenesis
• Prognosis

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

http://dcoll.ajou.ac.kr:9080/dcollection/jsp/common/DcLoOrgPer.jsp?sItemId=000000001868
000000001868

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.ajou.ac.kr:201003/1281