Cortactin expression in muscle-invasive and nonmuscle-invasive urinary bladder carcinoma in patients live in Sohag City, Egypt

Abstract

Abstract Background Bladder carcinoma (BC) is the ninth most prevalent cancer worldwide. However, it represents the most frequently occurring cancer in Egypt, where infection by Schistosoma haematobium is an endemic health problem. BCs are clinically subdivided into different stages according to invasion of the muscle layer and distant metastasis. Invasion of the surrounding tissues and metastasis are characteristic issues in malignant tumors. Malignant cells rearrange the intracellular actin filaments in the form of an assembly of branched network in the direction of cell movement. The well-formed actin assembly must be anchored by an adhesive-like protein named cortactin (CTTN). CTTN overexpression has been detected in various human malignant neoplasms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of CTTN in BC and to correlate such expression with different parameters such as depth of invasion, nodal metastasis, and bilharzial infestation. Patients and methods The current study enrolled 66 patients with BCs. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue blocks were prepared from each specimen. Hematoxylin and eosin tissue sections were prepared to confirm the diagnosis of BCs, determine tumor phenotype, assess degree of invasion, and detect any evidence of bilharzial infestation. Corresponding tissue sections were stained by antihuman CTTN antibody using the immunohistochemical approach. Results Overexpression of CTTN was associated with muscle invasion by neoplastic cells (P<0.001), advanced pathological T category (P=0.002), and presence of metastatic deposits in the regional lymph nodes (P<0.001). Conclusion Overexpression of CTTN in BC is associated with increased tumor invasion and nodal metastasis.