Increased expression of DCLK1, a novel putative CSC maker, is associated with tumor aggressiveness and worse disease-specific survival in patients with bladder carcinomas.

Increased expression of DCLK1, a novel putative CSC maker, is associated with tumor aggressiveness and worse disease-specific survival in patients with bladder carcinomas. Exp Mol Pathol. 2019 Apr 24;: Authors: Shafiei S, Kalantari E, Zanjani LS, Abolhasani M, Lari MHA, Madjd Z Abstract Doublecortin-like kinase 1 (DCLK1) has been characterized as a novel potential cancer stem cell (CSC) marker in several types of cancer. It is considered as one of the most specific markers for distinguishing colorectal CSCs from normal stem cells. Yet, there are limited reports on the role of DCLK1 as a putative CSC marker in bladder cancer. Using immunohistochemistry, DCLK1 expression was examined in a well-defined tissue microarray series of 472 bladder cancer tissues. The association between DCLK1 protein expression and clinicopathological features, as well as survival outcomes, was assessed. Our findings showed strong, moderate, and weak DCLK1 expression in 123 (26.1%), 230 (48.7%), and 119 (25.2%) of the bladder cancer specimens, respectively. Higher expression of DCLK1 was significantly associated with increase in histological grade (P ≤ .001), pT stage (P = .014), lamina propria (P = .006), and lamina propria/muscularis (L/M) involvement (P = .014). On multivariate analysis, pT stage (P < .001), histological grade (P = .021), and lamina propria involvement (P = .001) were independent prognostic factors in DCLK1...
Source: Experimental and Molecular Pathology - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: Exp Mol Pathol Source Type: research