Clonical Significance of Chromosome 17 and HER-2 Numerical Alterations in Urine-Exfoliated Cells in Patients with Urothelial Carcinoma

This study was conducted to elucidate the clinical significance of thealterations of HER-2 gene (HER-2) and chromosome 17 centromere in urine-exfoliatedcells by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in 103 patients with urothelialtransitional cell carcinoma. The additional increase of HER-2 (AI-HER2), gain ofchromosome 17 (G-17), and AI-HER2 with G-17 (AI-HER2+G-17) in the urine-exfoliatedcells were examined by FISH using DNA probes for HER-2 and chromosome17 centromere. AI-HER2, AI-HER2+G-17, and G-17 were found in 13 (12.6%), 10(9.7%), and 36 (35.0%) patients, respectively. The positive rate of the FISH (AIHER2,AI-HER2+G-17, or G-17) was higher than that of cytology in total cases (57.3%vs. 45.6%, P<0.001), in low-stage (pTa-I) tumors (44.3% vs. 27.9%, P= 0.003), and incases without CIS (42.0% vs. 31.9%, p