The diagnostic significance of detecting CK20 in exfoliated urothelial cells for bladder cancer

Objective To investigate the expression of cytokeratin 20 in exfoliated urothelial cells of patients with bladder cancer and to evaluate its diagnostic significance.Methods The reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR)was used to determine the expression of CK20 in exfoliated urothelial cells of 47 patients with bladder cancer,19 patients with non-malignant urologic disease and 9 healthy subjects.Results The positive expression of CK20 was found in 41 patients with bladder cancer,however,,only 2 positive cases were detected in control group.The sensitivity and specificity of the CK20 mRNA assay for bladder cancer was 87.2% and 92.9% respectively.The positive rate of CK20 in PTa～T1 and PT2～T4 patients was 85.7%(18/21)and 88.5%(23/26)respectively.The positive rate of CK20 in G1,G2 and G3 patients was 85.7%(12/14),85.7%(18/21)and 91.7%(11/12),respectively.The CK20 expression in exfoliated urothelial cells was not related to the tumor grades and stages.Conclusion CK20 may serve as a appropriate tumor marker for bladder cancer.The detection of CK20 mRNA in exfoliated urothelial cells by RT-PCR can be used in the diagnosis of bladder cancer.