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Previous data indicate a role of IL-1 and IL-1RA imbalance in bladder carcinoma (BC); the inhibition of IL-1 signaling might be considered a treatment option. Objective: To assess expression patterns and the prognostic role of IL-1β and IL-1RA in invasive BC and to evaluate their interaction with AKT signaling and proliferation. The study included two independent cohorts of n = 92 and n = 102 patients who underwent a radical cystectomy for BC. Specimen from BC and benign urothelium (n = 22 and n = 39) were processed to a tissue microarray and immunohistochemically stained for IL-1β, IL-1RA, AKT, and Ki-67. Expression scores were correlated to clinical variables and Ki-67 and AKT expression. An association with outcome was assessed using Wilcoxon Kruskal-Wallis tests, Chi-square tests or linear regression, dependent on the variable's category. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard analyses were used to estimate recurrence-free (RFS), cancer-specific (CSS) and overall survival (OS). Both IL-1β and IL-1RA were significantly overexpressed in invasive BC compared to benign urothelium in both cohorts (p 15%) correlated with higher levels of IL-1β (p = 0.01). The overexpression of IL-1β and IL-1RA is frequently found in BC, with a prognostic significance observed for the IL-1β protein expression. The observed link between the IL-1β/IL-1RA axis and AKT signaling may indicate possible autophagy activation processes besides the known tumor-promoting effects of AKT.
Vuković et al. (Mon,) studied this question.