The aim of this study was to determine the association of basal compartment and superficial markers, comprising CK5/6, CD44, CK20, and the pathological characteristics of upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) associated with Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN). Comparing the expression of the investigated markers in 54 tumors from the BEN region and 73 control UTUC, no significant difference between them was detected. In regression analysis, CK20 expression was not determined with expression of CK5/6, CD44, and the phenotypic characteristics of BEN and control UTUC. Parameters with predictive influence on the expression of CD44 in BEN UTUC included growth pattern (p = 0.010), necrosis (p = 0.019); differentiation (p = 0.001), and lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.021) in control UTUC. Divergent squamous differentiation in BEN tumors (p = 0.026) and stage in control tumors (p = 0.049) had a predictive influence on the expression of CK5/6. This investigation detected a predictive influence of the phenotypic characteristics of UTUC on the expression of basal compartment and superficial markers, with a significant influence of necrosis in BEN tumors (p = 0.006) and differentiation in control UTUC (p = 0.036).
Keywords: Balkan endemic nephropathy; CD44; CKs; morphology; upper tract urothelial cancer.