Vol. 9, No 1, 2002 pp. 95 - 97
UC 616.61-004 616.613-006 616.617-006
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MOLECULAR-BIOLOGICAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF UPPER UROTHELIAL CARCINOMAS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE BALKAN ENDEMIC NEPHROPATHY
Marina Savin, Vladimir Petronic
Institute of Urology and Nephrology, School of Medicine, University
of Belgrade, Serbia
E-mail: marinas@ybc.co.yu
Summary. The cutoff % of apoptosis (% TUNEL+ cells) for tumor grade
/ stage progression is twice lower in tumors generated in the regions with
Balkan endemic ne-phropathy than outside these regions. That group of tumors
more gradually invade urothelial wall than what happens in the same UUC
from the general population. Apoptosis may play an important role in tumor
progression, as a result of a horizontal spreading of oncogenes from an
apoptotic body of one tumor cell, which is taken up by other tumor cells,
as Bergsmedh et al have implied in 2001.
Key words: Balkan endemic nephropathy, upper urothelial carcinoma,
p53, cErb-B2, apoptosis
