IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF TISSUE POLYPEPTIDE ANTIGEN (TPA) IN HUMAN URINARY BLADDER TUMORS

The immunohistochemical study of tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA) was performed by Avidin-Biotin-Peroxydase complex method (ABC method) in the human bladder tumors. Thirteen bladder tumors (4 cases with transitional cell carcinoma grade 1, 6 cases with grade 2 and 3 cases with grade 3; 7 cases with pTa, 3 cases with pT1 and 3 cases with pT3) were subjected to this study. Prior to the experiment, it was confirmed that the TPA reactivity was not diminished by the tissue fixation with buffered formalin within 72 hours. Bladder tumors of grade 1 and 2 were strongly stained for TPA, whereas bladder tumors of grade 3 appeared to be stained weakly. There were no relationships between TPA stainings and the tumor staging, and between the TPA stainings and the prognosis of the patients. We have concluded that the TPA staining might be a useful method for determination of the bladder tumor grading.