Detection of mucin 7 gene expression in exfoliated cells in urine from patients with bladder tumor

Diagnostic accuracy of MUC7 expression for bladder cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

There have been many studies on MUC7 and bladder cancer (BC) that have been published; however, all sample sizes were not enough which led to their conclusions being based on small samples. Therefore, this meta-analysis aims to systematically analyze the diagnostic value of MUC7 for bladder cancer and provide a scientific basis for the diagnosis of bladder cancer.

METHODS

To obtain relevant literature on MUC7 diagnosed bladder cancer, databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang data, Chongqing VIP, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database were searched from the establishment of the database to July 11, 2023. According to established inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature was screened and data were extracted. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 was used to evaluate the risk of bias and applicability of included literature. Meta-disc1.4 and Stata12.0 software were used for Meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Twelve studies were included, including728 BC patients and 458 non-BC controls. The pooled sensitivity and pooled specificity were 0.74 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71-0.77) and 0.92 (95% CI: 0.90-0.95), respectively. The pooled negative likelihood ratio was 0.27 (95% CI: 0.20-0.36), and the pooled positive likelihood ratio was 9.58 (95% CI: 5.40-17.00). The diagnostic odds ratio was 40.95 (95% CI: 20.31-82.59), and the area under the curve was 0.91 in the overall summary of the receiver operating characteristic curve.

CONCLUSION

MUC7 might be a potential biomarker for diagnosing BC. However, more large sample and multicenter studies are needed to prove whether it can be used in clinical diagnosis.

Altered Glycosylation in Progression and Management of Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer (BC) is the 10th most common malignancy worldwide, with an estimated 573,000 new cases and 213,000 deaths in 2020. Available therapeutic approaches are still unable to reduce the incidence of BC metastasis and the high mortality rates of BC patients. Therefore, there is a need to deepen our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying BC progression to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic tools. One such mechanism is protein glycosylation. Numerous studies reported changes in glycan biosynthesis during neoplastic transformation, resulting in the appearance of the so-called tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) on the cell surface. TACAs affect a wide range of key biological processes, including tumor cell survival and proliferation, invasion and metastasis, induction of chronic inflammation, angiogenesis, immune evasion, and insensitivity to apoptosis. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current information on how altered glycosylation of bladder cancer cells promotes disease progression and to present the potential use of glycans for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.

Molecular markers in bladder cancer: Novel research frontiers

Bladder cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease encompassing distinct biologic features that lead to extremely different clinical behaviors. In the last 20 years, great efforts have been made to predict disease outcome and response to treatment by developing risk assessment calculators based on multiple standard clinical-pathological factors, as well as by testing several molecular markers. Unfortunately, risk assessment calculators alone fail to accurately assess a single patient's prognosis and response to different treatment options. Several molecular markers easily assessable by routine immunohistochemical techniques hold promise for becoming widely available and cost-effective tools for a more reliable risk assessment, but none have yet entered routine clinical practice. Current research is therefore moving towards (i) identifying novel molecular markers; (ii) testing old and new markers in homogeneous patients' populations receiving homogeneous treatments; (iii) generating a multimarker panel that could be easily, and thus routinely, used in clinical practice; (iv) developing novel risk assessment tools, possibly combining standard clinical-pathological factors with molecular markers. This review analyses the emerging body of literature concerning novel biomarkers, ranging from genetic changes to altered expression of a huge variety of molecules, potentially involved in BC outcome and response to treatment. Findings suggest that some of these indicators, such as serum circulating tumor cells and tissue mitochondrial DNA, seem to be easily assessable and provide reliable information. Other markers, such as the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT (serine-threonine kinase)/mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway and epigenetic changes in DNA methylation seem to not only have prognostic/predictive value but also, most importantly, represent valuable therapeutic targets. Finally, there is increasing evidence that the development of novel risk assessment tools combining standard clinical-pathological factors with molecular markers represents a major quest in managing this poorly predictable disease.

Bladder cancer: translating molecular genetic insights into clinical practice

Transitional cell (urothelial) carcinoma of the bladder is the second most common urologic malignancy and is one of the best understood neoplasms, with relatively well-defined pathogenetic pathways, natural history, and tumor biology. Conventional clinical and pathologic parameters are widely used to grade and stage tumors and to predict clinical outcome of transitional cell carcinoma; but the predictive ability of these parameters is limited, and there is a lack of indices that could allow prospective assessment of risk for individual patients. In the last decade, a wide range of candidate biomarkers representing key pathways in carcinogenesis have been reported to be clinically relevant and potentially useful as diagnostic and prognostic molecular markers, and as potential therapeutic targets. The use of molecular markers has facilitated the development of novel and more accurate diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic strategies. FGFR3 and TP53 mutations have been recognized as key genetic pathways in the carcinogenesis of transitional cell carcinoma. FGFR3 appears to be the most frequently mutated oncogene in transitional cell carcinoma; its mutation is strongly associated with low tumor grade, early stage, and low recurrence rate, which confer a better overall prognosis. In contrast, TP53 mutations are associated with higher tumor grade, more advanced stage, and more frequent tumor recurrences. These molecular markers offer the potential to characterize individual urothelial neoplasms more completely than is possible by histologic evaluation alone. Areas in which molecular markers may prove valuable include prediction of tumor recurrence, molecular staging of transitional cell carcinoma, detection of lymph node metastasis and circulating cancer cells, identification of therapeutic targets, and prediction of response to therapy. With accumulating molecular knowledge of transitional cell carcinoma, we are closer to the goal of bridging the gap between molecular findings and clinical outcomes. Assessment of key genetic pathways and expression profiles could ultimately establish a set of molecular markers to predict the biological nature of tumors and to establish new standards for molecular tumor grading, classification, and prognostication. The main focus of this review is to discuss clinically relevant biomarkers that might be useful in the management of transitional cell carcinoma and to provide approaches in the analysis of molecular pathways that influence the clinical course of bladder cancer.

Detection of circulating tumor cells in bladder cancer patients

The methods employed for the detection of circulating bladder cancer cells (CBCs) and their use as a molecular staging tool in clinical settings are thoroughly reviewed. CBC isolation and enrichment methods are discussed according to their advantages and pitfalls along with the clinical data of PCR-based techniques used for CBC detection. In addition, we review the specificity of molecular markers that have been proposed so far for CBC identification, and we comment on the controversial clinical data, proposing laboratory approaches which may improve the clinical significance of CBC detection in bladder cancer.

The value of combined use of survivin, cytokeratin 20 and mucin 7 mRNA for bladder cancer detection in voided urine

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the value of combined use of survivin, cytokeratin (CK) 20 and mucin (MUC) 7 mRNA in comparison with voided urine cytology in the detection of bladder cancer patients.

METHODS

One hundred and fifty three patients and 20 healthy volunteers were evaluated by RT-PCR for detecting survivin, CK-20 and MUC7 mRNA in voided urine before cystoscopy. The three markers and cytology were evaluated independently or in combinations.

RESULTS

The overall sensitivity and specificity were 90.4 and 94.7% for survivin, 82.6 and 97.4% for CK-20, 62.6 and 94.7% for MUC7 and 46.0 and 100% for voided urine cytology. Combined sensitivity of voided urine cytology with the three biomarkers together was higher than either combined sensitivity of voided urine cytology with one of the biomarkers or than that of the biomarker alone.

CONCLUSIONS

Combined use of the three markers can improve the sensitivity for detecting bladder cancer.

Rapid identification of UCA1 as a very sensitive and specific unique marker for human bladder carcinoma

PURPOSE

The most common genitourinary malignancy in China is bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). Early diagnosis of new and recurrent bladder cancers, followed by timely treatment, will help decrease mortality. There are currently no satisfactory markers for bladder cancer available in clinics. Better diagnostic methods are highly demanded.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

In this research, we have used comprehensive expressed sequence tag analysis, serial analysis of gene expression, and microarray analysis and quickly discovered a candidate marker, urothelial carcinoma associated 1 (UCA1). The UCA1 gene was characterized and its performance as a urine marker was analyzed by reverse transcription-PCR with urine sediments. A total of 212 individuals were included in this study, 94 having bladder cancers, 33 ureter/pelvic cancers, and 85 normal and other urinary tract disease controls.

RESULTS

UCA1 was identified as a novel noncoding RNA gene dramatically up-regulated in TCC and it is the most TCC-specific gene yet identified. The full-length cDNA was 1,439 bp, and sequence analysis showed that it belonged to the human endogenous retrovirus H family. Clinical tests showed that UCA1 assay was highly specific (91.8%, 78 of 85) and very sensitive (80.9%, 76 of 94) in the diagnosis of bladder cancer and was especially valuable for superficial G2-G3 patients (sensitivity 91.1%, 41 of 45). It showed excellent differential diagnostic performance in various urinary tract diseases without TCC.

CONCLUSIONS

UCA1 is a very sensitive and specific unique marker for bladder cancer. It could have important implications in postoperative noninvasive follow-up. This research also highlights a shortcut to new cancer diagnostic assays through integration of in silico isolation methods with translational clinical tests based on RNA detection protocols.

[Expression of antimicrobial peptide MUC7 in kidneys with pyelonephritis]

BACKGROUND

Mucins are glycoproteins secreted by epithelial cells of various organ systems exerting multiple functions. MG2 as the protein transcript of the MUC7 gene has first been described as secreted by serous salivary glands in the oral cavity. We sought to explore changes of MUC7 expression in the kidney stimulated by bacterial infection of the upper urinary tract.

METHODS

We investigated the gene expression of MUC7 by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in voided urine specimens from 15 patients with acute pyelonephritis compared to 15 healthy volunteers. Furthermore, the gene and protein expression of MUC7 was studied in 15 renal tissue samples with chronic bacterial pyelonephritis versus 10 normal human kidney samples taken from tumor-bearing organs.

RESULTS

MUC7 gene expression was detected in 5 of 15 voided urine samples of patients with pyelonephritis and in 2 samples from 15 healthy volunteers (Fisher's exact test p=0.39). MUC7 gene expression was detected in 7 of 15 tissue samples of kidneys with chronic pyelonephritis and in none of 10 normal renal tissue samples from tumor bearing organs (p=0.02). Immunohistochemical staining with the monoclonal antibody PANH3 revealed protein expression in 6 of the 15 tissue samples with chronic pyelonephritis, but not in normal tissue samples.

CONCLUSION

Upregulated MUC7 expression in the urinary tract particularly in renal tubular epithelium can occur under inflammatory conditions. This indicates a putative role of MUC7 as an antimicrobial host defense molecule within the urogenital tract.

Urothelial cancer biomarkers for detection and surveillance

Cancer is a complex process, and the US cancer-specific death rate has not changed in the last 50 years. Cure of the disease usually results from early diagnosis and treatment. Urothelial carcinoma (UC) has the highest recurrence rate of any cancer and is the second most common cancer of the genitourinary tract. It usually does not present at a metastatic stage, but only 50% of patients treated with cystectomy survive > or =5 years. There is a UC surveillance protocol, which includes cystoscopy, imaging, and cytology, to detect progression and allow early treatment of life-threatening UC. Many patients may not complete the surveillance protocol, and the cost of these studies is increasing. In addition, questions about the efficacy of these modalities have been raised. Therefore, bladder urinary tumor markers have been developed to aid in the diagnosis and surveillance of UC. Because urothelial cells are bathed in the urine and are continually shed, UC presents a unique opportunity to monitor bladder neoplasia in a noninvasive fashion. Currently, there are many research bladder tumor markers, but only a few are commercially available US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved products. The commercially available bladder tumor markers and potential future markers are discussed. The ideal urinary bladder tumor test is still unavailable, but the eventual "gold standard" will consist of multiplex assays that analyze nucleic acids and proteins for detection. In addition, these tests would also reveal to the clinician both prognostic information and therapeutic targets for personalized medical treatment.

New molecular markers for bladder cancer detection

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Bladder cancer continues to be one of the most common genitourinary malignancies. The mainstay of diagnosis remains cystoscopic visualization with transurethral biopsy or resection. As over two-thirds of bladder tumors recur, vigilant surveillance is required. Due to the invasiveness and expense of frequent cystoscopies and the lack of sensitivity of urinary cytology, especially for low-grade superficial lesions, novel molecular markers have been investigated as a means to detect bladder cancer noninvasively.

RECENT FINDINGS

As our understanding of the pathogenesis of urothelial neoplasia improves, coupled with recent advances in molecular biological techniques, an array of new approaches to the diagnosis of bladder cancer has emerged. Several urine-based markers have been tested against the standard of urinary cytology with promising results. However, lack of standardization of technique and heterogeneity of bladder cancer itself may hinder the widespread dissemination of these diagnostic aids.

SUMMARY

A host of new molecular markers based on the pathogenesis of bladder cancer have been investigated, such as telomerase, survivin, and multitarget fluorescence in situ hybridization, which may eventually improve detection and management of urothelial malignancies. By improving the sensitivity of urinary cytology for low-grade superficial lesions and detecting recurrent disease noninvasively early in its course, these new molecular markers might someday allow changes in the way bladder cancer is diagnosed and followed. At the present time, however, no single molecular marker provides 100% accuracy. Perhaps panels utilizing the most promising of these markers may alter bladder cancer detection and management policy.