title: Fascin-1 expression in papillary and invasive urothelial carcinomas of the urinary bladder.
abstract: Fascin-1 is an actin-bundling protein that plays an important role in cell motility and adhesion. The level of fascin-1 is low or undetectable in normal epithelial cells. However, overexpression is reported in transformed epithelial cells and in several common types of carcinomas [Bioessays. 2002;24:359-361]. Up-regulation of fascin-1 is associated with higher grades and with aggressive tumors with poorer prognoses. We found no report on the role or the protein expression of fascin-1 in urothelial carcinomas (UCs) of the urinary bladder. In this study, we examined by immunohistochemistry the expression of fascin-1 in the normal human transitional epithelium, benign vesical lesions, and different types of UCs. We found no detectable fascin-1 in the normal transitional epithelium. There was no increase of fascin-1 expression in cystitis cystica, cystitis glandularis, nephrogenic adenoma (n = 10), inverted papilloma (n = 5), and classic exophytic papilloma (n = 4) or in adjacent transitional epithelia associated with these conditions. Patchy or diffusely weak fascin-1 expression was observed in 42% (5/12) of superficial papillary UCs (Ta), and 95% (19/20) of invasive UCs (T2 or higher) demonstrated diffuse strong staining for fascin-1. The microinvasive foci in the lamina propria of UC (T1, n = 8) were also positive for fascin-1, although they were not as strongly stained as in the deeply invasive tumors. Interestingly, the neoplastic cells in the tips of microinvasive carcinomas were distinctly positive for fascin-1. There were significant numbers of fascin-1-positive cells (>50% of the neoplastic cells) in UCs in situ (n = 10). These findings suggest an association between increased fascin-1 expression and increased invasiveness of carcinomas in the urinary bladder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA. gt2125@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Guo-Xia
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yee
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chiriboga
authors.forename: Osvaldo
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: Jerry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waisman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C502658:FSCN1 protein, human; D008840:Microfilament Proteins