Aquaporin 3 expression loss in urothelial carcinoma: Association with tumor invasion depth, but not with grading?

Abstract

We have previously provided molecular evidence of expression of aquaporin 3 (AQP3) in normal human urothelium and in UBC of various stages. Whereas former studies demonstrated that loss of AQP3 was associated with invasive and high-grade disease and worse progression-free and cancer-specific survival, this report investigates the expression of AQP3 in associated CIS. Contrary to what we had expected, all CIS specimens were shown to exhibit strong AQP3 expression, suggesting loss of AQP3 in UBC is primarily associated with the ability of tumor cells for invasion but not with grading as sign of dedifferentiation.