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Introduction: Gli transcription factors are the primary effectors of the Hedgehog signaling pathway which has been linked to several different human tumors including cancers of the skin, brain, colon, prostate, blood and pancreas. We assessed the clinicopathological correlation of Gli1 expression in bladder cancer.
Materials & Methods: Bladder cancer cases were identified from the New Hampshire State Department of Health and Human Services Cancer Registry as histologically confirmed primary bladder cancer diagnosed between January 1^st 2002 and July 31^st 2004. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect Gli1 and TP53. We computed Odds ratios and their 95% CI for Gli1 positivity for pathology stage using T code from TNM, invasiveness and grade using both WHO 1973 and WHO ISUP criteria.
Results: A total of 194 men and 67 women were included in the study. No difference were noted in sex, age, smoking status or high risk occupation when stained for Gli1. There was a statistical difference in Gli1 staining when comparing Ta and T1 tumors (OR 0.38, CI 0.21-0.93) and when comparing lower grade tumors (grade 1-2) and high grade tumors (grade 3) (OR 0.44, CI 0.21-0.93). Invasive transitional cell carcinoma was less likely to stain for Gli1 than noninvasive tumors but on multivariate analysis the difference was not statistically significant (OR 0.61, CI 0.29-1.27).
Conclusions: Gli1 may have a role in transitional cell cancer differentiation. Our data provides additional information on the role of effectors of Hedgehog signaling in the molecular pathogenesis of bladder cancer.