Abstract

Urothelial carcinoma is the most common malignancy affecting the urinary tract. It is at least three times more common in males than females suggesting the role of sex hormones in initiation and progression of bladder cancer. The purpose of this study is to detect the immunohistochemical expression of androgen receptors (AR) and estrogen receptor-β (ERβ) in urothelial carcinoma and correlate their expression with the known prognostic parameters of urothelial carcinoma. Seventy cases of urothelial carcinoma from radical cystectomy (15 specimens) and transurethral resection of the tumor (TURT) (55 specimens) were collected retrospectively. They were stained for AR and ERβ. The relationship between their expression and the available clinicopathological features were evaluated. AR/ERβ was positive in 62.9%/52.9% respectively of the studied cases. Significantly lower expression of AR/higher expression of ERβ were found in high-grade tumors (52.4%/66.7% respectively) and with muscle-invasive tumors (48.4%/71% respectively). AR and ERβ expression were significantly correlated with the tumor grade and degree of invasion suggesting the suitability of AR and ERβ as prognostic markers of urothelial carcinoma. High AR expression was associated with favorable prognosis of urothelial carcinoma in contrast to high ERβ expression which was associated with bad prognosis of urothelial carcinoma.

Keywords: Androgen; Estrogen; Receptor; Bladder cancer; Urothelial; Immunohistochemistry; Prognosis