Expression of Cytokeratin 20 in Transitional Cell Carcinoma of Bladder

Objective To evaluate the expression of cytokeratin 20 (CK20) and study its clinical significance in transitional cell carcinoma of bladder. Methods The immunohistochemistry for CK20 was done on the tumors of 90 patients with bladder cancer who presented for the first time. We classified the expression patterns of CK20 as normal or abnormal at the time of initial diagnosis. The time interval of recurrence or period of follow-up free from recurrence was recorded. Seven healthy vo lunteers were selected as control group. Results The healthy control group had normal expression of CK20. 90 consecutive patients, 46 recurrent, 44 non-recurrent, were followed-up for 24 ～ 72 months. Of 46 recurrent cases, CK20 expression pattern was abnormal in 38, normal in 2, and negative in 6. By contrast, in the 44 non-recurrent cases, CK20 expression was normal in 42 and negative in 2(P 0.0001 ). Conclusion Our preliminary results suggest that abnormal expression of CK20 may be useful in predicting recurrence, which might serve as a tumor marker for the evaluation of the prognosis of bladder carcinoma.