OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and analyse the expression of CD44 , smoothelin and MUC1 in bladder carcinoma and determine their relationships with clinico-pathological features .
METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of CD44, smoothelin and MUC1 on a total of 60 cases of bladder carcinoma (Transitional cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma) 20 cases from each type.
RESULTS: Statistically significant overexpression of CD44 was correlated with tumor type, grade, advanced stage while it was insignificant with bilharziasis. Smoothelin expression showed statistically significant correlation with TNM stage but it was insignificant with tumor type, grade, and bilharziasis. MUC1 showed significant direct association with increasing grade of bladder carcinoma and TNM stage while histological subtype and the presence of bilharzial cystitis did not have any significant association with MUC1 overexpression
CONCLUSION: Our study confirmed that both CD44 and MUC1 are independent prognostic markers , their expression was associated with tumor genesis, tumor progression , invasion , metastasis, and the clinically aggressive behavior , poor survival. They may serve as valuable tools for prediction of tumor recurrence and response to therapy and identification of therapeutic targets.Our data confirmed the use of smoothelin in the accurate recognition of muscularis propria from either muscularis mucosae, thereby facilitating appropriate pathologic stage designation in TURBT specimens which is crucial for deciding either conservative or aggressive management of these patients.