title: Low interleukin-1alpha messenger RNA levels predict decreased overall survival time of patients with urinary bladder carcinoma.
abstract: Due to our inability to exactly characterize tumours, many patients with urinary bladder cancer undergo unnecessary surgery or cytostatic therapy. We have here studied the expression of the cytokine interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha ) in 73 human bladder carcinomas in relation to patient survival, and examined possible relationships between IL-1alpha and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) expression. Expression levels of IL-1alpha and uPA mRNA were determined by RT-PCR using the quantitative TaqMan technique. The levels of IL-1alpha mRNA expression did not differ significantly between tumours of different grade or stage. Calculation of the overall survival rates showed a decreased overall survival time for patients with low levels of IL-1alpha mRNA in their tumours (log rank; P = 0.0002, median follow up: 37 months). Low tumoral IL-1alpha expression predicted decreased survival of patients with poorly differentiated tumours (P< 0.005) and of patients with invasive tumours (P = 0.02). uPA expression was about 4-fold increased in poorly differentiated tumours. High levels of uPA mRNA were associated with decreased overall survival times (log rank; P = 0.032, n = 60). We conclude that IL-1alpha is important for bladder cancer biology, and that measurements of this cytokine may be useful in pre-treatment characterization of urinary bladder cancer.
authors.affiliation: Radiumhemmet's Research Laboratory, Cancer Center Karolinska, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seddighzadeh
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Steineck
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Jansson
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wijkström
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Adolfsson
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Portwood
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hansson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Linder
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator