Objectives: The expression pattern of PAX5 in the tissue of superficial bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), its prognostic value and its correlation with p53 immunohistochemistry and p53 mutation analysis were evaluated.
Methods: Study comprised 61 patients with histologically confirmed superficial bladder TCC. Expression level of PAX5 mRNA was investigated using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and determined semiquantitatively. The presence of p53 mutations was determined by SSCP and confirmed by direct sequencing. The p53 immunohistochemistry was performed with DO1 antibody and semiquantitatively evaluated using HSCORE (HS) method. As the control group for the evaluation of the PAX5 expression served 8 men with benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Results: PAX5 expression was found in 50 patients with bladder TCC but in no patient from the control group. Its quantity however correlated neither with the stage nor with the grade of the tumor. P53 mutation was confirmed only in 1 patient with pTaG2 tumor in exon 5 (deletion of proline 128). On the contrary, positive immunohistochemical staining of p53 was detected in most patients. Using the cutoff value of HS 200, 56.9% of patients showed p53 overexpression. Quantity of p53 immunochistochemical positivity did not correlate with the quantity of PAX5 expression. Using the cutoff values of HS 200 for p53 and of 0.2 for PAX5, 7 of 8 patients with future progression had p53 and 4 had PAX5 overexpression respectively.
Conclusion: The expression of gene PAX5 is a frequent event in superficial TCC of the bladder.