Possible role of RAGE and ER expression in therapy of bladder cancer

Introduction: Each year, 430,000 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer. Certainly, suitable diagnostic and therapeutic markers are required to improve the detection and treatment of bladder cancer and hence to prolong survival of patients. Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a multi-ligand receptor that is present on cells of the monocyte or macrophage lineage and cells of vascular origin. It is highly expressed and associated with inflammations related to pathological states such as cancer. Estrogen receptor (ER) is one of large family member of nuclear receptor transcription factors. They are the main responsible for growth of estrogen responsive tumors such as; endometrial and breast cancers. Estrogen plays a role in bladder development and homeostasis and has been implicated in more advanced stage bladder tumors. Methods: We evaluated the expression of RAGE and ER on 58 bladder cancer tissue sections by immunohistochemical method. Results: RAGE expression was significantly higher in bladder cancer compared to cystitis and in non-papillary high grade tumors with muscle invasion compared to their counterparts. On the other hand, ER expression was higher in cases of urothelial carcinoma compared to cases of cystitis and in papillary low grade non-invasive tumors than in their counterparts. No significant differences were achieved for both RAGE and ER expression between bilharzial and non-bilharzial associated bladder cancer. Conclusion: We concluded that RAGE and ER are potential biomarkers that may be targets for molecular based therapeutic strategies in the management of bladder cancer. *Correspondence to: Tarek Aboushousha, Pathology Department, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, El-Nile Str, Warrak El-Hadar, Embaba, Giza, P.O.Box: 30, Cairo, Egypt, Tel: 00201222186036; E-mail: t.aboushousha@tbri.gov.eg