The role of nuclear matrix protein 22 combined with bladder tumor antigen stat test in surveillance of recurring bladder cancer

OBJECTIVE: To investigate a non-invasive, effective and rapid mode of detecting the recurrence of bladder cancer during follow-up. METHODS: Ninety patients following transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBt) surgery were recruited from January 1998 to March 2000. Standard ELISA was used to determine the quantity of nuclear matrix protein (NMP-22) in urine of all bladder cancer patients during their follow-up periods. Urine bladder tumor antigen (BTA) stat test was simultaneously performed and followed by cystoscopy. RESULTS: The total positive rates of urinary NMP-22 and BTA stat test were 76.7% (33/43) and 67.4% (29/43), respectively. Comparatively, this positive rate would increase to 93.0% (40/43) when the combination of both urine NMP-22 and BTA test were adopted. CONCLUSION: Examination of NMP-22 in urine is a rapid and effective way to detect the recurrence of bladder cancer. If combined with BTA test, NMP-22 may be used as a non-invasive method in surveillance of recurring of bladder cancer, which may reduce the frequency of patients needing to undergo conventional invasive cystoscopy.

Growth inhibiting effects of antisense eukaryotic expression vector of proliferating cell nuclear antigen gene on human bladder cancer cells

Objective To explore the growth inhibiting effects on human bladder cancer by antisense RNA targeting the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene. Methods The eukaryotic expression vector for antisense PCNA cDNA was constructed and transferred into a bladder cancer EJ cell line. The PCNA expression in the cancer cells was detected by RT-PCR and Western blotting assays. The in vitro proliferation activities of the transferred cells were observed by growth curve,tetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetry,tritiated thymidine ( 3H-TdR)incorporation, flow cytometry and clone formation testing,while its in vivo anti-tumor effects were detected on nude mice allograft models.Results After the antisense vector,pLAPSN,was transferred,cellular PCNA expression was inhibited at both protein and mRNA levels. The growth rates of EJ cells were reduced from 27.91% to 62.07% ( P <0.01),with an inhibition of DNA synthesis rate by 52.31% ( P <0.01). Transferred cells were blocked at G 0/G 1 phases in cell-cycle assay,with the clone formation ability decreased by 50.81% ( P <0.01). The in vivo carcinogenic abilities of the transferred cancer cells were decreased by 54.23% ( P <0.05). Conclusions Antisense PCNA gene transfer could inhibit the growth of bladder cancer cells in vitro and in vivo,which provided an ideal strategy for gene therapy of human cancers.

Telomerase expression in sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid

Background In humans telomerase is expressed in most ca ncers and immortal cell lines, and astivation of telomerase may play important r oles in tumorigenesis and immortalization. This study was to investigate the rol es of telomerase activity (TA) and human telomerase RNA (hTR) in sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid.Methods The telomerase repeated amplification protocal (TRAP) was used to demonstrate telomerase activity in 12 cases of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid. In situ hybridiza tion (ISH) was used to demonstrate the expression of hTR in 55 cases of paraffin-embedded sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid, and the results were compared with the proliferative index determined by Mib-1 immuno-labeling, histological patterns and r ecurrence of the tumor.Results Different telomerase activity was shown in the 12 cases of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid. The positive expression of hTR was 85.5% (47/55) in tumor cells, but not in the adjacent tissues. The positive expression of hTR was correlated with the proliferative activity (as assessed by Mib-1 immunolabelling, r=0.942, P<0.001) and the dif ferentiation of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid (χ 2=17.621, P<0.001), but not si gnificantly related to tumor recurrence. The level of hTR expression increased with the de crease of differentiation of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid.Conclusions The results suggest that the up-regulation of telo merase expression plays some roles in tarsal gland carcinogenesis, and the express ion of hTR is a useful marker for malignant degree of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid.