Immunodetection of androgen receptor in human urinary bladder cancer

We investigated the expression of androgen receptor (AR) protein in transitional cell carcinoma of human urinary bladder in paraffin-embedded sections of tumours obtained from nine patients with urinary bladder cancer treated by radical cystectomy. In addition, immunoblotting of AR was also performed on selected samples. Nuclear immunoreactivity of AR was found in seven of the nine urinary bladder cancers studied. AR showed variable staining intensity within a tumour. In the immunoblots, a 110 kDa AR signal was seen with anti-AR antibody, and faint bands of 90 and 60 kDa were also observed. Immunohistochemistry of p53 and c-erbB-2 was also carried out and compared with the distribution of AR. The high frequency of AR expression suggests a role for androgens in transitional cell carcinoma of human urinary bladder.