Is Quantitative Real-Time RT-PCR an Adjunct to Immunohistochemistry for the Evaluation of ErbB2 Status in Transitional Carcinoma of the Bladder?

Opioid Receptor Expression in Colorectal Cancer: A Nested Matched Case-Control Study

Background

There is growing interest in the possible effect of perioperative anesthetic management on the growth and spread of cancer. The impact of perioperative use of opioids on cancer recurrence remains controversial and an assessment cannot yet be established based on current publications. This study aimed to assess the differential expression of opioid receptors between healthy and tumor tissues in patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer undergoing elective surgery by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Methods

Propensity-score matched case-control study nested in a retrospective cohort of patients with stage II or III colorectal. The primary endpoint was the difference in µ-opioid receptor (MOR) expression measured by IHC between tumor and healthy tissue in subject with or without recurrence. Secondary endpoints were to evaluate the differences in Opioid Growth Factor Receptor (OGFR), cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) production and protein kinase A (PKA) in the matched sample and from a from samples of colorectal cancer stored in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype Tissue Expression Project (GTEx).

Results

There was a significant difference in MOR receptor (median 3 [intequartile range IQR: 1-3] and 0 [IQR: 0-2], P<0.001) and OGFR receptor (median 6 [IQR: 5-6] and 2 [IQR: 1-2], P<0.001) in tumor and control tissue respectively. However, there were no significant differences in cAMP nor PKA expression between both types of tissues and in expression in any of the analyzed variables by recurrence status. The MOR and OGFR expression data from TCGA database were similar to our sample size data with lower expression of MOR and higher expression of OGFR in tumoural samples with a skewed distribution for MOR expression in tumor tissue both in patients with and without recurrence.

Conclusion

In patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer, overall expression of MOR and OGFR was significantly increased but was not different between previously matched patients with or without recurrence. No differences were found in the analyzed metabolic pathway of cAMP-PKA: These results were confirmed by an in silico analysis of samples from the TCGA-GTEx database.

SATB-1 and Her2 as predictive molecular and immunohistochemical markers for urothelial cell carcinoma of the bladder

Studying bladder cancer molecular biology revealed the presence of genetic alterations. So, detection of molecular biomarkers that help in monitoring the disease, evaluating the prognosis of the patients, and their response to therapy is needed. In this study, we investigated the expression and the prognostic significance of SATB-1 and ERBB2 mRNA and protein by quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis in urothelial bladder cancer cases and the surrounding normal bladder tissue. The correlations between the expression of both markers and the clinicopathological parameters were performed with further analysis of the correlation between the expression of SATB-1 and ERBB2. Compared to control, the expression of SATB-1 and ERBB2 mRNA and protein in cancer tissues were significantly up-regulated (p< 0.05). Also, a positive correlation between both markers was found (r= 0.53, p< 0.001). Moreover, elevated levels of both markers were significantly associated with the stage, lymph node involvement at both mRNA and protein levels (p< 0.001). In conclusion, there is a clinical significance of SATB-1 and ERBB2 as potential biomarkers for predicting bladder cancer patients of aggressive behavior and poor prognosis.

ESR1, ERBB2, and Ki67 mRNA expression predicts stage and grade of non-muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma (NMIBC)

Pathological staging and grading are crucial for risk assessment in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Molecular grading might support pathological evaluation and minimize interobserver variability. In this study, the well-established breast cancer markers ESR1, PGR, ERBB2, and MKI67 were evaluated as potential molecular markers to support grading and staging in NMIBC. We retrospectively analyzed clinical data and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE) of patients with NMIBC. Messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of the aforementioned markers was measured by single-step reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) using RNA-specific TaqMan assays. Relative gene expression was determined by normalization to two reference genes (CALM2 and B2M) using the 40^-ΔΔCT method and correlated to histopathological stage and grade. Pathological assessment was performed by an experienced uropathologist. Statistical analysis was performed using the SAS software JMP 9.0.0 version and GraphPad Prism 5.04. Of 381 cases of NMIBC, samples of 100 pTa and 255 pT1 cases were included in the final study. Spearman rank correlation revealed significant correlations between grade and expression of MKI67 (r = 0.52, p < 0.0001), ESR1 (r = 0.25, p < 0.0001), and ERBB2 (r = 0.18, p = 0.0008). In Mann-Whitney tests, MKI67 was significantly different between all grades (p < 0.0001), while ESR1 (p = 0.0006) and ERBB2 (p = 0.027) were significantly different between G2 and G3. Higher expression of MKI67 (r = 0.49; p < 0.0001), ERBB2 (r = 0.22; p < 0.0001), and ESR1 (r = 0.18; p = 0.0009) mRNA was positively correlated with higher stage. MKI67 (p < 0.0001), ERBB2 (p = 0.0058), and PGR (p = 0.0007) were significantly different between pTa and pT1. In NMIBC expression of ESR1, ERBB2 and MKI67 are significantly different between stage and grade. This potentially provides objective parameters for pathological evaluation.

ErbB receptor tyrosine kinase family expression levels in urothelial bladder carcinoma

ErbB receptor tyrosine kinases family plays an important role in cell cycle regulation. Overexpression of ErbB receptors has been described in several solid tumors. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of ErbB1, ErbB2, ErbB3, and ErbB4 expression in bladder cancer. Urinary bladder tumor samples were obtained from 33 bladder cancers and 7 non-cancerous bladder biopsies. The levels of ErbB1, ErbB2, ErbB3, and ErbB4 genes expression in bladder cancer were determined by real-time PCR. The presence of protein was confirmed by immunostaining. Expression of ErbB1, ErbB2, ErbB3, and ErbB4 genes increased 0.67, 4.72, 2.89, and 2.65-fold, respectively, in bladder tumors as compared with normal tissue. There was a significant difference between immunostaining results of ErbB4 protein in bladder tumors and normal bladder tissue (P<0.01). The present data suggest that ErbB2, ErbB3, and ErbB4 genes may have a role in bladder cancer tumorigenesis.