MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Tumor/healthy tissues were collected from 58 patients (35 with and 23 without
NMIBC). Cystoscopy was performed at 3, 6 and 12 months to determine recurrence.
Tumor grades and recurrence were correlated with TL, TA and
TBPs using the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test. Results were considered significant at P < 0.05.
RESULTS: Histological evaluation indicated 15 patients (42.9%) with high-grade (HG) and 20 patients (57.1%) with low-grade (LG)
NMIBC. TL, TA and
TBPs were found to be significantly different in
tumors as compared with controls. A significant (P < 0.05) difference in the expression of
TBPs was observed in the disease-free mucosa of
cancer patients as compared with HG and LG
tumors. In the follow-up, a total of 11
tumor recurrences were observed; among these eight recurrences were observed in patients with HG
tumors and three in patients with LG
tumors. TL, Human
telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) (that represents TA) and
poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) in
tumor samples and telomeric repeat binding factors TRF1, TRF2 and
tankyrase (TANK) in normal mucosa obtained from the
tumor group were respectively found to exhibit a positive and negative association with the risk of recurrence.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that TL, TA and
TBPs are altered in
tumors and non-cancerous mucosa in patients with papillary urothelial
NMIBC. Further studies are warranted to identify their suitability as a potential
biomarker.