CYTOKERATIN 20: A NEW MARKER FOR EARLY DETECTION OF BLADDER CELL CARCINOMA

AbstractPurpose: Cytokeratins are constituents of the intermediate filaments of epithelial cells in which they are expressed in various combinations depending on epithelial type and degree of differentiation. Of the 20 known cytokeratins, cytokeratin 19 is expressed in normal urothelium cells, whereas the recently identified cytokeratin 20 (CK-20) is expressed in urothelial carcinoma but not normal urothelium cells. We examine whether CK-20 expression can be used as a bladder tumor marker for transitional cell carcinoma in cells isolated from urine.Materials and Methods: The reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction method was used to determine expression of CK-20 in cells separated from urine of patients with bladder carcinoma. Cells were obtained from urine of 192 patients stratified into 3 groups of 21 healthy young volunteers without a history of transitional cell carcinoma, 27 with a negative bladder biopsy for transitional cell carcinoma and 144 with bladder transitional cell carcinoma. The pa...