UTILITY OF CD24 IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL EXPRESSION IN UROTHELIAL CARCINOMA OF BLADDER

Objective: To study utility of CD24 immunohistochemical expression in urothelial carcinoma in association with tumor grade and stage.

Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was conducted for 16 months at a tertiary care centre on 52 TURBT specimen primarily diagnosed on HE as urothelial carcinoma. Selected block was subjected to CD24 immunohistochemistry and expression of the marker was semi quantitatively scored as low (score 0, 1) and high expression (score 2, 3) based on intensity of cytoplasmic staining. This expression was studied for its association with clinicopathological parameters.

Results: In normal urothelium, CD24 was localized in the luminal basal layer with minimal intensity. Expression of CD24 is upregulated in urothelial carcinoma and high expression (score 2,3) was correlated with high grade, invasive tumor and tumor stage (p <0.01). Invasive high grade urothelial carcinomas show high expression of CD24.

Conclusion: CD24 was overexpressed in significant number of high grade invasive urothelial carcinoma which indicate CD24 as marker of assessing stromal invasion and high tumor grade. This make CD24 not only as prognostic marker but also as theranostic marker for targeted therapy in tumor showing high CD24 expression.