[Prognostic markers in transitional carcinoma of the bladder]

Due to the diversity of the biologic behaviour of the low-grade and low-stage superficial bladder carcinomas, particularly those that present a high recurrence rate, most of the research has been oriented towards finding prognostic markers of recurrence and future invasion of the tumor. Among these markers there are two that have demonstrated their usefulness: the study of the contents of the cellular DNA by flow cytometry and the study of blood group antigens. The latter are carbohydrate structures that form a complex, genetically-regulated signal code which intervenes in the cellular growth and maturation processes. Recently published works describing genetic alterations in transitional bladder carcinomas, oncogenic mutations, loss of the 9q chromosome that regulates the formation of A and B antigens, support the hypothesis that in neoplastic transformation processes, genetic alterations cause enzymatic deficiencies and disorders, and these produce several antigenic changes of the cellular membrane and thus interfere in the biologic behaviour of the malignant cell.