Association between clinical characteristics and expression abundance of RTKN gene in human bladder carcinoma tissues from Chinese patients

Total RNA was extracted from 33 surgically resected specimens of bladder carcinoma and 19 specimens of tumor-free bladder tissues. After the optimal reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction condition was established, the mRNA expression levels of the RTKN gene in the lesions and tumor-free bladder tissues were examined semiquantitatively, and the relationships between expression levels of RTKN and clinical pathological features were analyzed.

The expression of RTKN gene mRNA in 33 human bladder carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in 19 human tumor-free bladder tissues (0.937±0.103 vs. 0.350±0.082). The average ratio of RTKN expression in neoplasms to that in tumor-free bladder tissues was 0.350±0.164. Based on this ratio the 33 patients were divided into three groups: a downregulated expression group (n=2), an upregulated expression group (n=22), and an unchanged group (n=9). Although the χ² test demonstrated a statistically nonsignificant differences in RTKN expression between tumor stages Ta, T₁, and T₂ overall in the 33 human bladder carcinoma, the t test showed that there were statistically significant differences between solitary and multiple tumors, between the paired group aged younger or older than 70 years in 27 de novo bladder carcinoma patients, and between the groups with tumor larger or smaller than 2.25 cm³.

These results suggest that the RTKN gene is involved in bladder carcinogenesis and progression in bladder carcinoma, indicating that RTKN gene could be a molecular target in cancer therapy.