Survivin and Her2 Expressions in Different Grades of Urothelial Neoplasms of Urinary Bladder

Urothelial neoplasm (UN) of bladder is a potentially lethal malignancy, particularly in locally advanced or metastatic cases. Development of molecular markers such as HER2 and Survivin may provide useful information on diagnosis and prognosis in UN of bladder.

We studied the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of HER2 and Survivin in 84 radical/partial cystectomy and transurethral resection (TUR) specimens with different histologic grades and stages.  All samples were obtained from pathology department of Sina Hospital in Tehran, Iran from 2014 to 2018.

From the total number of 84 UN samples, 10 cases (11.9%) had papillary neoplasm of low malignant potential, 30 cases (35.7%) had low-grade papillary urothelial neoplasm, and 44 cases (52.4%) had high-grade papillary urothelial neoplasm. HER2 and Survivin expressions were seen in 44 (52.4%) (p =0.610) and 9 (10.7%) patients (p =0.046), respectively.Survivin expression showed a mild increase in high grade UN.

Our findings suggest that the IHC expression of Survivin and HER2 are not well associated with histological grades of Urothelial neoplasms of bladder. This may be partly due to relatively small sample size and various factors such as patient characteristics or antibody specifications.