Prognostic Implications of CD24, SOX2, and Nanog Expression in Invasive Urothelial Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Urinary bladder cancer (BC) is the seventh most common cancer worldwide with the highest incidence rates in Western Europe, North America, and Australia. The most common type of BC is urothelial carcinoma (UC), which represents a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic value of CD24, SOX2, and Nanog in UC cases and the correlation with recurrence and survival. Materials and Methods: In this study, the authors investigated the expression of CD24, SOX2, and Nanog in 80 patients with urinary BC. The clinical significance of the markers was evaluated by assessing the correlation with the clinicopathologic parameters and prognosis. Results: The CD24 expression was positive in 62.5% of the BC patients, there was a significant association between CD24 expression and high grade and stage and lymphovascular invasion (LVI), P (0.002, 0.0010, and 0.001). SOX2 was expressed in 60 patients (75%), the expression was significantly associated with age, stage, grade, LVI, lymph node, and smoking, P (0.016, 0.01, <0.001, 0.003, 0.036, and 0.002), respectively. Nanog expression was positive in 60% of the BC patients. There was a significant association between Nanog expression and age, high grade, high stage, and LVI (P=0.016, <0.001, and 0.003), respectively. Conclusions: A significant relation between CD24, SOX2, and Nanog with the invasive potential of UC. This increase in expression of the 3 markers with the grades and stages of UC suggests that they can play a role in the development of UC, so they can be used in targeted therapy in the future.