Expression of Cancer Stem Cell Markers Oct4 and Cd133 in Transitional Cell Carcinomas Publisher Pubmed



Sedaghat S^{1, 2} ; Gheytanchi E¹ ; Asgari M^{1, 2, 3} ; Roudi R¹ ; Keymoosi H¹ ; Madjd Z^{1, 2, 4} Show Affiliations
Source: Applied Immunohistochemistry and Molecular Morphology Published:2017

Abstract

Background: Treatment failure, recurrence, and metastasis in bladder cancer are attributed to a subset of tumor cells expressing cancer stem cell (CSC) markers. This study aimed to explore the expression levels and the clinical significance of putative CSC markers OCT4 and CD133 in bladder cancer. Materials and Methods: Tissue microarray-based immunohistochemical analysis was applied to investigate the expression patterns of potential CSC markers OCT4 and CD133 in bladder cancer samples. The correlation between the expressions of each marker and clinicopathologic parameters was then analyzed. Results: There was a significant association between OCT4 expression and the TNM stage of bladder cancer (P<0.001). Our analysis demonstrated a significant association between the intensity of staining and the presence of lamina propria and muscularis propria invasion (P=0.02 and 0.02, respectively), whereas a relative inverse correlation was found between CD133 expression with lamina propria invasion (P=0.051) and muscularis propria invasion (P=0.07). Conclusions: The correlation of OCT4, but not CD133, with the invasiveness of bladder cancer revealed that OCT4 can be considered as a key regulator of tumor progression, aggressive behavior, and metastasis; therefore, OCT4 can be a potential marker for targeted therapy of bladder cancer. © 2016 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.