title: Cripto-1 expression and its prognostic value in human bladder cancer patients.
abstract: Cripto-1 is an important embryonic gene that involved in self-renewal and maintenance of pluripotency of stem cells. Overexpression of Cripto-1 has been found to be correlated with tumorigenesis and may affect tumor recurrence and metastasis. The previous studies indicate that Cripto-1 might be a potential prognostic biomarker for several malignancies. The aim of this study is to examine Cripto-1 expression pattern and clinicopathological significance in human bladder cancer patients. We investigated Cripto-1 expression in 30 paired bladder cancer tissues and corresponding noncancerous bladder tissues using real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Moreover, Cripto-1 expression in 130 bladder cancer specimens and bladder cancer T24 and 5637 cells were analyzed using immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence assays. The recurrence/metastasis-free survival was assessed by Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Cox regression was also used for univariate and multivariate analyses of prognostic factors. The results showed that Cripto-1 expression is increased in bladder cancer tissues and is significantly associated with tumor size (P = 0.005) and tumor grade (P = 0.035). In addition, the expression level of Cripto-1 in bladder cancer was also found to be significantly associated with SRY-related HMG-box gene 2 expression (P = 0.003) and Ki-67 (P = 0.001). Compared with the patients with low Cripto-1 expression, the patients with high Cripto-1 expression had significantly poorer recurrence/metastasis-free survival (P = 0.011). Cox regression showed that Cripto-1 might be an independent prognostic factor for recurrence/metastasis-free survival (P = 0.036). Our findings suggest that high Cripto-1 expression might be involved in the development of bladder cancer and a potentially effective prognostic marker in bladder cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Affiliated Wuxi People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, 299 Qingyang Road, Wuxi, 214023, China, bingbingwei@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Bingbing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Zhuoqun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: You
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jiabei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D058851:GPI-Linked Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C070636:TDGF1 protein, human