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Akt activation correlates with the tumor aggressiveness in Tunisian patients with bladder cancer

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Various studies in western countries found Akt amplification to be a frequent event in human cancers, including bladder, but the correlation with clinicopathological features is controversial. Such studies have not been reported in African populations, including Tunisians. The purpose of this study was to assess expression of the phosphorylated/activated forms of Akt in tumors from Tunisian patients with bladder cancer and to correlate its expression with pathological and clinical parameters of the disease. The study included 72 patients of whom 34 were diagnosed as low- to medium-grade and 35 as high-grade; 30 were muscle stage and 39 non-muscle stage. Primary tumors from these patients, normal adjacent tissues, or bladder cancer cell-lines were analyzed for Ser473 phosphorylated Akt expression by Western blot. Seventy-two percent of primary tumors from patients with bladder cancer had increased levels of p-Akt. The p-Akt levels in patients with high-grade bladder cancer were significantly elevated compared to patients with low- or medium-grade bladder cancer. In invasive carcinoma, the p-Akt level was significantly higher than in superficial non-invasive bladder tumors. Concerning the influence of tobacco on Akt activation, no significant differences of p-Akt expression were found between non-smoker and smoker patients. Altogether, our results suggest that Akt activation can provide useful prognostic information and that tobacco represents a serious risk factor for recurrence in a cohort of Tunisian patients.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Catherine Paul (Laboratoire d’Immunologie et Immunothérapie des Cancers, EA 7269, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon) for proofreading the paper. This study was supported by the “Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche” of Tunisia (Ben Bahria-Sediki); the “Fonds européen de développement régional (FEDER)” no. 2013-0431SGO003S03654 and 2014-9201AAO049S02145 (Sampaio), and the “Région de Bourgogne” (Ben bahria-Sediki, Sampaio, Bettaieb).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EPHE, Laboratoire d’Immunologie et Immunothérapie des Cancers, Paris, F-75014, France

    Islem Ben Bahria-Sediki, Carla Sampaio & Ali Bettaieb

  2. EA 7269, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, F-21079, Dijon, France

    Islem Ben Bahria-Sediki, Carla Sampaio & Ali Bettaieb

  3. Laboratoire de Génétique, Immunologie et Pathologies Humaines, Faculté de Sciences Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia

    Islem Ben Bahria-Sediki & Amel Ben Ammar El Gaaied

  4. Hôpital Charles Nicolle de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia

    Mohamed Chebil, Mohamed Cherif, Rachida Zermani & Soumaya Rammeh

Authors
  1. Islem Ben Bahria-Sediki
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  2. Carla Sampaio
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  3. Mohamed Chebil
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  4. Mohamed Cherif
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  5. Rachida Zermani
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  6. Soumaya Rammeh
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  7. Amel Ben Ammar El Gaaied
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  8. Ali Bettaieb
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Amel Ben Ammar El Gaaied or Ali Bettaieb.

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Informed consent was obtained from all patients before enrolment in the study. This study is in agreement with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Tunis Pasteur Institute.

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Ben Bahria-Sediki, I., Sampaio, C., Chebil, M. et al. Akt activation correlates with the tumor aggressiveness in Tunisian patients with bladder cancer. Tumor Biol. 37, 7873–7879 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4678-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4678-2

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