Objective: Slingshot homolog-1 (SSH-1) shows an important role in the occurrence and development in various tumors. While, the expression and prognostic implications of SSH-1 in bladder urothelial carcinoma (UC) remain unclear and thus were addressed in this study.
Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on tissue microarrays composed of 624 bladder UC specimens after transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TUR-BT) to detect SSH-1 expression. The clinic-pathological features were compared between SSH-1( +) and SSH-1(-) subgroups. The Kaplan-Meier curve with log-rank test and univariate/multivariate Cox regression model with stepwise backward elimination methods were performed for survival analyses.
Results: In this study, 359 (57.53%) specimens were detected with SSH-1 expression. SSH-1 positivity was significantly associated with higher pathological grade (p = 0.020), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.006), tumor recurrence (p < 0.001) and progression (p < 0.001) in bladder UC. Besides, SSH-1 positivity predicted a shorter overall survival (OS, p = 0.024), recurrence-free survival (RFS, p < 0.001), progression-free survival (PFS, p = 0.002) and cancer-specific survival (CSS, p = 0.047). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that tumor size (p = 0.007), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.003), recurrence (p < 0.001), progression (p < 0.001) and SSH-1 expression (p = 0.015) were predictors of poor prognosis in bladder UC patients.
Conclusions: SSH-1 expression was associated with undesirable clinic-pathological characteristics and poor post-operative prognosis in bladder UC patients. SSH-1 might play an important role in bladder UC and serve as a promising predictor of oncological outcomes in patients with bladder UC.
Keywords: Bladder urothelial carcinoma; Prognostic factor; Slingshot homolog-1; Transurethral resection; pT1.