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.