Open Access

ARTICLE

Analysis of bladder cancer subtypes in neurogenic bladder tumors

Quentin Manach¹, Olivier Cussenot², Morgan Rouprêt¹, Xavier Gamé³, Emmanuel Chartier-Kastler¹, Christine Reus¹, Philippe Camparo⁴, Eva Compérat², Véronique Phé¹

1 Sorbonne Université, GRC n°5, ONCOTYPE-URO, AP-HP, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, F-75013, Paris, France
2 Sorbonne Université, GRC n°5, ONCOTYPE-URO, AP-HP, Hôpital Tenon, F-75020, Paris, France
3 Department of Urology, Rangueil Academic Hospital, Toulouse, France
4 Pathology Center, Amiens, France
Address correspondence to Professor Morgan Rouprêt, DepartmentofUrology,Pitié-SalpêtrièreAcademicHospital, 47-83 Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France

Canadian Journal of Urology 2018, 25(1), 9161-9167.

Abstract

Introduction: To determine whether the validated tumor biomarkers of luminal and basal subtypes of bladder cancer, established in non neuro-urological patients, are applicable to a neuro-urological population.
Materials and methods: We collected bladder cancer samples from neuro-urological patients (n = 20) and non-neurological controls (n = 40). The expression levels of GATA3 and CK5/6 were analyzed using immunohistochemistry on tissue microarray sections. We also evaluated the correlation between previously identified biomarker expression, gender, age, tumor stage (non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer [NMIBC] vs. muscle-invasive bladder cancer [MIBC]), squamous-cell differentiation, and luminal/basal subtypes using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r).
Results: The mean age at diagnosis of bladder cancer in neuro-urological patients was 53.2 years (range: 41–73). Muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) was observed in 13 neuro-urological patients (65%). The luminal subtype was identified in 7 samples (35%), all showing urothelial differentiation. The basal subtype was found in 13 samples (65%): 12 with squamous-cell differentiation and 1 with sarcomatoid differentiation. GATA3 and CK5/6 were co-expressed in only 6 (30%) neuro-urological patients. A significant positive correlation was observed between GATA3 expression and the luminal subtype (p = 0.00001, r = 0.5676), but not with the neuro-urological status (r = -0.307). Poor correlations were found between CK5/6 expression and neuro-urological status (r = 0.471 and -0.471), squamous-cell differentiation (r = 0.092), tumor stage NMIBC/MIBC (r = -0.118 and 0.118), and luminal/basal subtypes (r = -0.157 and 0.194).
Conclusion: In summary, the expression patterns of GATA3 and CK5/6 were unable to reliably distinguish luminal and basal subtypes of bladder cancer in neuro-urological patients. This suggests that the histopathological signature of bladder cancer in this population may differ from that in non-neuro-urological patients. Additional molecular pathways may be involved in the urothelial carcinogenesis mechanism in neuro-urological individuals.

---

Keywords

---