KAI1/CD82 gene expression in benign prostatic hyperplasia and late-stage prostate cancer in Chinese

Aim: To evaluate KAI1/CD82 expression in Chinese patients with benign prost atic hyperplasia (BPH) and late-stage carcinoma of prostate (CaP). Methods: Thirty Chinese patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and 34 with CaP (adenocarcinoma clinical stage C and D) were analyzed by means of immunohis tochemical methods. Results: The KAI1/CD82 expression in BPH tissue was all positive, which was uniformly located on the glandular cell membrane at th e cell-to-cell borders, but KAI1/CD82 expression in metastasis CaP tissues was either significantly lower than that of BPH or negative, and the immuno staining pattern was not continuous. In late-stage CaP KAI1/CD82 expression was correlated inversely to the pathological grade (P <0.05), but not to c linical stage (P >0.05). Conclusion: The authors believe that decreased and negative KAI1/CD82 expression in late-stage CaP may be related to tumor pr ogression and metastasis, and appears to be a prognostic marker.