Summary
The expression of cytokeratin (CK) 17 was studied in 28 primary transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) of the human urinary tract using CK 17-specific monoclonal antibody E3. While CK 17 was not detectable at all or only present in some areas of basal cells in normal—appearing urothelium, a certain subpopulation of cells of all G1 and G1/G2 TCCs examined (9 cases) stained positive for CK 17. These latter cells were either restricted to the basal compartment or located also in suprabasal layers exhibiting a decreasing intensity of immunoreactivity. CK 17 was seen in practically all cells in G2 and G2/G3 tumors (7 cases). In contrast, G3 TCCs and anaplastic carcinomas showed a highly variable CK 17 staining pattern ranging from completely negative to completely positive with several intermediate phenotypes. Our results indicate that CK 17 could be a useful marker for the progression of urinary tumors.
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Guelstein, V.I., Tchipysheva, T.A., Ermilova, V.D. et al. Immunohistochemical localization of cytokeratin 17 in transitional cell carcinomas of the human urinary tract. Virchows Archiv B Cell Pathol 64, 1–5 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02915089
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02915089