Affiliations 

  • 1 University of Malaya, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Life Sciences, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia
  • 2 University of Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia. nur_akmarina@um.edu.my
Malays J Pathol, 2023 Apr;45(1):19-29.
PMID: 37119243

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Although epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and p53 have been established to play a pivotal role in the aggressiveness of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), its pathological correlation to cisplatin treatment in the Malaysian patient cohort is lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the association of EMT markers, e-cadherin, vimentin and actin, as well as tumour suppressor gene, p53, in cisplatin-receiving MIBC patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Formalin-fixed paraffinembedded (FFPE) blocks of muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy between January 2010 to December 2020 were traced. Immunohistochemistry staining was performed on traced blocks using antibodies to e-cadherin, vimentin and actin, and p53.

RESULTS: p53 and e-cadherin were stained positive in most cases (p=0.515 and 0.242 respectively), although e-cadherin showed stronger positive expression in pre-cisplatin receiving MIBC cases. All the cases stained negative for actin and vimentin except for faint staining observed in one pre-cisplatin case.

CONCLUSION: Although this study does not show a significant correlation between EMT markers and p53 with cisplatin-responsiveness in MIBC patients, the results serve as preliminary findings on the heterogeneous outcomes of molecular staining in the Malaysian MIBC patient cohort.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.