Analysis of mRNA expression differences in bladder cancer metastasis based on TCGA datasets

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the metastatic mechanism of muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), which accounts for approximately 30% of all bladder cancer cases, and is a considerable medical problem with high metastatic and mortality rates. METHODS: The mRNA levels of patients with metastatic MIBC and nonmetastatic MIBC from The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset were compared. An integrated bioinformatics analysis was performed of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and analyses of Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes pathway, protein-protein interaction, and survival were performed to investigate differences between metastatic and nonmetastatic MIBC. RESULTS: Data from 264 patients were included (131 with, and 133 without, metastasis). A total of 385 significantly DEGs were identified, including 209 upregulated genes and 176 downregulated genes. Based on results using the STRING database and the MCODE plugin of Cytoscape software, two clusters were obtained. Moreover, two genes were identified that may be valuable for prognostic analysis: Keratin 38, type I (KRT38) and Histone cluster 1, H3f (HIST1H3F). CONCLUSION: The KRT38 and HIST1H3F genes may be important in metastasis of MIBC.