Figure 5

Assessment of CCL18 and A1AT in bladder tissue. a) Representative immunostaining of benign bladder for CCL18 (top-left), low-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer for CCL18 (top-middle), and high-grade muscle invasive bladder cancer for CCL18 (top-right). Red arrows indicate CCL18-positive cells in the stroma. CCL18 staining was present only in inflammatory cells associated with the stroma. Lower panels are boxplots of CCL18 immunohistochemical staining intensity of benign bladder vs. bladder cancer, low-grade vs. high-grade, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) vs. muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Error bars indicate standard deviations. Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to assess significance. b) Representative immunostaining of benign bladder for A1AT (top-left), low-grade non-muscle invasive BCa for A1AT (top-middle), and high-grade muscle invasive BCa for A1AT (top-right). A1AT staining was present in the cytoplasm and stroma. A1AT staining varied from weak and focal to strong and diffuse. Lower panel shows column bar graphs of A1AT immunohistochemical staining intensity of benign bladder vs. bladder cancer, low-grade vs. high-grade, NMIBC vs. MIBC.