Folate receptor expression in bladder cancer and its correlation with tumor behaviors and clinical outcome

Abstract

Background: Folate receptor (FR) has been recognized as having the capacity to become a biological marker for early diagnosis or prognostication of bladder cancer in previous studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of FR in bladder cancer, and its potential relevance to clinicopathological characteristics and patient survival. Materials and methods: Surgical specimens of cancer tissue were obtained from 78 patients with bladder cancer. The relative expression levels of FR in the bladder cancer tissue were measured by immunohistochemistry stain and graded according to stain intensity. Thereafter, the correlation with clinicopathological parameters and patient survival was analyzed. Results: The staining intensity and positivity rate of FR were significantly higher in low grade tumor tissues than in high grade tissues (P = 0.0035 and 0.003). Nevertheless, in the univariate Cox proportional hval. There was no correlation of FR expression or intensity with patient survival was seen (P > 0.01). Conclusion: In addition to tumor grade and stage, the expression of FR in bladder cancer is related to cellular differentiation. However, no correlation with patient survival was seen in this limited study.

Keywords

• Bladder cancer
• Folate receptor
• Tumor behavior
• Cancer survival