THE BINDING-SITE FOR FUCOSE-BINDING PROTEINS OF LOTUS-TETRAGONOLOBUS IS A PROGNOSTIC MARKER FOR TRANSITIONAL-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE HUMAN URINARY-BLADDER

Background. Carbohydrate signals are important in tumor metastasis. Me thods. Expression of binding sites for fucose-binding proteins (FBP) o f Lotus tetragonolobus were immunohistochemically analyzed in patients with transitional cell carcinoma. Results. The survival of patients w ith invasive bladder cancer was associated with the degree of expressi on of FBP binding sites. Overall actuarial 5-year survival and cancer- corrected 5-year survival rates were much worse in patients with stron g expression of FBP binding sites than in those with no or weak expres sion (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively). Strong expression of FBP binding sites in patients with Stage T3-4 disease or disease beyond St age T2 with lymphatic permeation also was correlated with increased di sease progression. Autopsies revealed that FBP binding sites were stro ngly expressed in all primary tumors with metastasis and in most of th e metastatic tissues. Conclusion. The degree of expression of FBP bind ing sites correlates with the increased metastatic potential of bladde r cancer and with poor patient survival times.