Taoufik Nedjadi, Mohamed E Ahmed, Hifzur R Ansari, Sihem Aouabdi, Alaa Samkari, Jaudah Al-Maghrabi
{"title":"EpCAM生物标志物的临床价值及其与膀胱癌免疫细胞浸润的关系","authors":"Taoufik Nedjadi, Mohamed E Ahmed, Hifzur R Ansari, Sihem Aouabdi, Alaa Samkari, Jaudah Al-Maghrabi","doi":"10.1186/s13000-025-01696-1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Bladder cancer is characterized by its heterogeneous nature and high propensity for recurrence and progression. The absence of reliable diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to accurately identify high-risk patients further complicates the clinical management of the disease. MOC-31, an antibody that targets epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), is utilized to distinguish between mesothelioma and metastatic cancer, but its clinical utility, prognostic value and functional dynamics in bladder cancer have yet to be verified.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A comprehensive analysis of EpCAM expression and its associations with key clinicopathological parameters was performed via The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Additionally, we retrospectively assessed EpCAM expression in our bladder cancer cohort using MOC-31 antibody and examined its prognostic value and correlation with clinicopathological features. The cBioPortal, STRING and TIMER databases were used to explore the interactions between EpCAM expression, immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint genes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The difference in EpCAM expression varied widely across various cancer types and was strongly correlated with advanced cancer stage. EpCAM staining with MOC-31 exhibited membranous positivity in 51.7% of the analysed cohort. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed a discernible trend suggesting a poorer prognosis for patients with low EpCAM expression than for those with high EpCAM expression. Protein-protein interaction demonstrated that EFGR, HER2 and Claudin-7 are key EpCAM interactors. A strong association was observed between EpCAM expression and immune cell infiltration as well as immune-related genes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study highlights the prognostic value of EpCAM in bladder cancer, revealing a strong link between EpCAM expression and disease pathogenesis. These results underscore the need for further research to validate these findings and explore the significance of EpCAM as a therapeutic target in managing bladder cancer.</p>","PeriodicalId":11237,"journal":{"name":"Diagnostic Pathology","volume":"20 1","pages":"96"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12376368/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"The clinical value of the EpCAM biomarker and its association with immune cell infiltration in bladder cancer.\",\"authors\":\"Taoufik Nedjadi, Mohamed E Ahmed, Hifzur R Ansari, Sihem Aouabdi, Alaa Samkari, Jaudah Al-Maghrabi\",\"doi\":\"10.1186/s13000-025-01696-1\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Bladder cancer is characterized by its heterogeneous nature and high propensity for recurrence and progression. The absence of reliable diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to accurately identify high-risk patients further complicates the clinical management of the disease. MOC-31, an antibody that targets epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), is utilized to distinguish between mesothelioma and metastatic cancer, but its clinical utility, prognostic value and functional dynamics in bladder cancer have yet to be verified.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A comprehensive analysis of EpCAM expression and its associations with key clinicopathological parameters was performed via The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Additionally, we retrospectively assessed EpCAM expression in our bladder cancer cohort using MOC-31 antibody and examined its prognostic value and correlation with clinicopathological features. The cBioPortal, STRING and TIMER databases were used to explore the interactions between EpCAM expression, immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint genes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The difference in EpCAM expression varied widely across various cancer types and was strongly correlated with advanced cancer stage. EpCAM staining with MOC-31 exhibited membranous positivity in 51.7% of the analysed cohort. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed a discernible trend suggesting a poorer prognosis for patients with low EpCAM expression than for those with high EpCAM expression. Protein-protein interaction demonstrated that EFGR, HER2 and Claudin-7 are key EpCAM interactors. A strong association was observed between EpCAM expression and immune cell infiltration as well as immune-related genes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study highlights the prognostic value of EpCAM in bladder cancer, revealing a strong link between EpCAM expression and disease pathogenesis. These results underscore the need for further research to validate these findings and explore the significance of EpCAM as a therapeutic target in managing bladder cancer.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":11237,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Diagnostic Pathology\",\"volume\":\"20 1\",\"pages\":\"96\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.3000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-08-25\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12376368/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Diagnostic Pathology\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13000-025-01696-1\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"PATHOLOGY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Diagnostic Pathology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13000-025-01696-1","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PATHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
The clinical value of the EpCAM biomarker and its association with immune cell infiltration in bladder cancer.
Background: Bladder cancer is characterized by its heterogeneous nature and high propensity for recurrence and progression. The absence of reliable diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to accurately identify high-risk patients further complicates the clinical management of the disease. MOC-31, an antibody that targets epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), is utilized to distinguish between mesothelioma and metastatic cancer, but its clinical utility, prognostic value and functional dynamics in bladder cancer have yet to be verified.
Methods: A comprehensive analysis of EpCAM expression and its associations with key clinicopathological parameters was performed via The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Additionally, we retrospectively assessed EpCAM expression in our bladder cancer cohort using MOC-31 antibody and examined its prognostic value and correlation with clinicopathological features. The cBioPortal, STRING and TIMER databases were used to explore the interactions between EpCAM expression, immune cell infiltration and immune checkpoint genes.
Results: The difference in EpCAM expression varied widely across various cancer types and was strongly correlated with advanced cancer stage. EpCAM staining with MOC-31 exhibited membranous positivity in 51.7% of the analysed cohort. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed a discernible trend suggesting a poorer prognosis for patients with low EpCAM expression than for those with high EpCAM expression. Protein-protein interaction demonstrated that EFGR, HER2 and Claudin-7 are key EpCAM interactors. A strong association was observed between EpCAM expression and immune cell infiltration as well as immune-related genes.
Conclusion: This study highlights the prognostic value of EpCAM in bladder cancer, revealing a strong link between EpCAM expression and disease pathogenesis. These results underscore the need for further research to validate these findings and explore the significance of EpCAM as a therapeutic target in managing bladder cancer.
期刊介绍:
Diagnostic Pathology is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal that considers research in surgical and clinical pathology, immunology, and biology, with a special focus on cutting-edge approaches in diagnostic pathology and tissue-based therapy. The journal covers all aspects of surgical pathology, including classic diagnostic pathology, prognosis-related diagnosis (tumor stages, prognosis markers, such as MIB-percentage, hormone receptors, etc.), and therapy-related findings. The journal also focuses on the technological aspects of pathology, including molecular biology techniques, morphometry aspects (stereology, DNA analysis, syntactic structure analysis), communication aspects (telecommunication, virtual microscopy, virtual pathology institutions, etc.), and electronic education and quality assurance (for example interactive publication, on-line references with automated updating, etc.).