Background/Aim. Deregulation of the normal cell cycle is common in upper
urothelial carcinoma (UUC). The aim of this study was to investigate the
expression of regulatory proteins of the cell cycle (p53, p16, cyclin D1,
HER-2) and proliferative Ki-67 activity in UUC, and to determine their
interaction and influence on the phenotypic characteristics of UUC. Methods.
In 44 patients with UUC, histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses
(p53, p16, cyclin D1, HER-2, and Ki-67) of tumors were done. Results.
Overexpression/ altered expression of p53, p16, cyclin D1 or HER-2 was
detected in 20%, 57%, 64%, and 57% of tumors, respectively. Eleven (25%) UUC
had a high proliferative Ki-67 index. Forty patients (91%) had at least one
marker altered, while four (9%) tumors had a wild-type status. Analysis of
relationship between expressions of molecular markers showed that only high
expression of p53 was significantly associated with altered p16 activity (p <
0.05). High Ki-67 index was associated with the high stage (p < 0.005), solid
growth (p < 0.01), high grade (p < 0.05), and multifocality p < 0.05) of UUC,
while high expression of p53 was associated with the solid growth (p < 0.05).
In regression models that included all molecular markers and phenotypic
characteristics, only Ki-67 correlated with the growth (p < 0.0001), stage (p
< 0.01), grade (p < 0.05) and multifocality (p < 0.05) of UUC; Ki-67 and
HER-2 expression correlated with the lymphovascular invasion (p < 0.05).
Conclusions. This investigation showed that only negative regulatory proteins
of the cell cycle, p53 and p16, were significantly associated in UUC, while
proliferative marker Ki-67 was in relation to the key phenotypic
characteristics of UUC in the best way.
Altered Expression of Complement Regulatory Proteins CD35, CD46, CD55, and CD59 on Leukocyte Subsets in Individuals Suffering From Coronary Artery Disease