Detection of survivin mRNA in urine of patients with superficial urothelial cell carcinomas.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the present study was to assess if the presence of survivin mRNA in exfoliated cells present in urine samples can be a reliable marker of the presence of bladder tumour and recurrence.


METHODS
Urine samples from 30 patients with superficial urothelial cell carcinomas (UCC) were collected prior to transurethral resection (TUR) of the tumour and in the first routine follow-up, three months after TUR. Detection of survivin mRNA was performed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).


RESULTS
No correlation was observed between survivin detection and the clinicopathological variables analysed, nevertheless, when patients were grouped into low-grade (G1) and high-grade (G2+G3) tumours, statistically significant differences were found between both groups (p=0.04). When we analysed the results of survivin detection and urinary cytology together, we observed that informative cases rose from 27.8% to 44.4%. Also, Kaplan-Meier curves for patients with negative cytology in the first followup, categorised according to survivin detection, revealed that survivin mRNA positive cases recurred earlier than negative ones.


CONCLUSIONS
From our results we can conclude that detection of survivin expression can be a reliable tumour marker, but more studies are needed to clarify the potential of survivin to predict recurrences. These results showed that survivin detection in combination with conventional urinary cytology can be a useful tool to increase the sensitivity in detecting the presence of a recurrence after TUR.
Instituto Politécnico de Saúde do Norte (IPSN), CESPU, CRL, Famalicão, Portugal. luispinacabral@hotmail.com
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Pina-Cabral
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Santos
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Mesquita
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Amaro
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Magalhães
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Criado
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000652:urine*; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000601:surgery / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D008297:Male; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine*; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000652:urine*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate; D000077022:Survivin; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000601:surgery / Q000652:urine*; D019459:Urothelium / Q000378:metabolism
C107489:BIRC5 protein, human; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D051034:Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D000077022:Survivin