title: Osteopontin overexpression predicts poor prognosis of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies indicate overexpression of osteopontin (OPN) promotes carcinogenesis, progression and metastasis of multiple human malignancies. However, the function of OPN in urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the upper urinary tract has not been investigated. This study evaluates the clinical significance of OPN expression in upper urinary tract UC.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and ten cases (median age = 64, range = 24-84 years) of renal pelvic or ureter UC were retrospectively reviewed in this study. OPN expression were evaluated by immunohistochemistry staining on paraffin-embedded section of the tumor and scored by two qualified pathologists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High OPN expression was found in 54 (49.1%) of the cancer specimens. OPN expression was not significantly correlated with tumor T stage (P = 0.761), N stage (P = 0.339) or grade (P = 0.349). However, OPN expression was differently expressed by gender (P = 0.012) and cancer location (P = 0.026). OPN expression did not correlate with bladder recurrence-free (P = 0.661) or extra-bladder recurrence-free (P = 0.787) survival, but high OPN expression was a significant predictor for cancer-specific survival (P = 0.014).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicated that higher OPN expression is a potential biomarker to predict patient survival. Further study is necessary to investigate the role of OPN in the carcinogenesis of upper urinary tract UC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hung-Lung
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.forename: Lin-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Sheau-Fang
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hui-Hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ching-Chia
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Deng-Chyang
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Wen-Jeng
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D002295:Carcinoma, Transitional Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D053495:Osteopontin / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053495:Osteopontin