Aim: To contribute to the ongoing discussion of clonality of human urothelial cancer it was considered a valuable approach to analyze multiple areas from cystectomy specimens for deletions of chromosomes known to be involved early in bladder cancer development.
Material and methods: Thus, in 86 biopsies of 4 human cystectomies with different histological findings (maximal diagnosis: pT1G2, pTaG3, pT2G2, normal) loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was investigated as a deletion marker using markers of chromosomes 8p, 9p, 9q and 17p. Findings were compared to histology of the lesion.
Results: Findings indicate: (1) no changes in the markers investigated in the bladder with histologically normal urothelium in contrast to detection of LOH in normal urothelium of tumour-bearing bladders; (2) an accumulation of the number of LOH with increasing malignancy of lesions within one bladder, and (3) indications of oligoclonal neoplastic lesions in two of the urinary bladders investigated.
Conclusions: The investigation of multiple lesions within one bladder presents a snapshot of genetic changes in differently advanced tumour stages. The hypotheses of tumour evolution and oligoclonality as derived from our LOH data need to be supported by deletion-independent clonality studies as X-chromosomal inactivation analysis.
Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel