TPPP gene alterations and its role in bladder cancer

Purpose: We studied the gene copy number alteration of TPPP (Tubulin Polymerization Promoting Protein) in bladder cancer using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) based assay and correlated its the result with clinical parameters.

Materials and Methods: Samples and clinical data from patients with bladder cancer and clinical data were collected. TPPP gene was evaluated by FISH in 52 patients. The probe targeting the gene TPPP were established for FISH experiment. At least 300 non-overlapping cells in each case were analyzed by two observers.

Results: We could see different genetic copy number alterations of TPPP in studied sample. Further analysis with the clinical data, the TPPP gene alteration was strongly correlated with tumor grade, in which the amplification of TPPP gene was significantly correlated with high-grade tumor (p  < 0.001). Besides, the amplification of TPPP gene was positively correlated with tumor stage (p  < 0.05).

Conclusion: The genetic alterations of TPPP gene were much higher in high-stage and -grade bladder cancer. This result suggests that TPPP may play a role in bladder cancer pathogenesis, and TPPP gene alteration may serve as a biomarker for bladder cancer detection.