FGFR3 mRNA expression in urothelial bladder cancer: Associations with tumor phenotype without prognostic impact.
- 1Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia.
- 2University Clinic for Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia.
- 3PHI University Clinic for Surgical Diseases St. Naum Ohridski, Skopje, Faculty of Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, North Macedonia.
Abstract
Introduction
FGFR3 (fibroblast growth factor receptor 3) is frequently altered in urothelial carcinoma and has been associated with less aggressive disease, but its prognostic relevance remains uncertain. We evaluated tumor FGFR3 mRNA expression levels in relation to clinicopathological phenotype and outcomes in bladder cancer.Material and methods
Fresh-frozen tumor tissue from 80 urothelial carcinomas (54 non-muscle-invasive, 26 muscle-invasive) was used for RNA extraction and quantitative PCR. FGFR3 expression levels were normalized to pooled controls and log₁₀-transformed. Associations with invasiveness, grade, and survival were assessed using logistic and Cox regression, with discrimination quantified by the area under the curve (AUC) and calibration by the Brier score.Results
Higher FGFR3 expression was independently associated with non-muscle-invasive disease (OR 6.35, 95% CI: 2.14-18.83; p <0.001; AUC 0.74; Brier 0.180) and low grade (OR 5.99, 1.78-20.13; p = 0.004; AUC 0.74; Brier 0.189). FGFR3 was not associated with overall survival (HR 0.52, 95% CI: 0.25-1.06; p = 0.072). In the NMIBC subset, FGFR3 was not associated with recurrence-free survival (HR 1.09, 0.37-3.20; p = 0.880). Age (HR 1.03, 0.98-1.09; p = 0.191) and grade (HR 2.16, 0.78-5.94; p = 0.137) were also non-significant.Conclusions
Tumor FGFR3 mRNA expression was strongly associated with a less aggressive phenotype but showed no independent prognostic value for survival in this cohort. FGFR3 may support phenotypic assessment at diagnosis, while its prognostic role warrants validation in larger studies.
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BibTeX
@article{pakovski2026fgfr3,
title = {{FGFR3 mRNA expression in urothelial bladder cancer: Associations with tumor phenotype without prognostic impact.}},
author = {Kiril Pakovski and Marija Markova and Josif Janchulev and Martina Ambardjieva and Aleksandra Gavrilovska-Brzanov and Slavica Josifovska and Skender Saidi and Sasho Panov},
journal = {Central European journal of urology},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.5173/ceju.2025.0236},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903929},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - FGFR3 mRNA expression in urothelial bladder cancer: Associations with tumor phenotype without prognostic impact.
AU - Kiril Pakovski
AU - Marija Markova
AU - Josif Janchulev
AU - Martina Ambardjieva
AU - Aleksandra Gavrilovska-Brzanov
AU - Slavica Josifovska
AU - Skender Saidi
AU - Sasho Panov
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/09
JO - Central European journal of urology
DO - 10.5173/ceju.2025.0236
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903929
AB - Introduction FGFR3 (fibroblast growth factor receptor 3) is frequently altered in urothelial carcinoma and has been associated with less aggressive disease, but its prognostic relevance remains uncertain. We evaluated tumor FGFR3 mRNA expression levels in relation to clinicopathological phenotype and outcomes in bladder cancer.Material and methods Fresh-frozen tumor tissue from 80 urothelial carcinomas (54 non-muscle-invasive, 26 muscle-invasive) was used for RNA extraction and quantitative PCR. FGFR3 expression levels were normalized to pooled controls and log₁₀-transformed. Associations with invasiveness, grade, and survival were assessed using logistic and Cox regression, with discrimination quantified by the area under the curve (AUC) and calibration by the Brier score.Results Higher FGFR3 expression was independently associated with non-muscle-invasive disease (OR 6.35, 95% CI: 2.14-18.83; p <0.001; AUC 0.74; Brier 0.180) and low grade (OR 5.99, 1.78-20.13; p = 0.004; AUC 0.74; Brier 0.189). FGFR3 was not associated with overall survival (HR 0.52, 95% CI: 0.25-1.06; p = 0.072). In the NMIBC subset, FGFR3 was not associated with recurrence-free survival (HR 1.09, 0.37-3.20; p = 0.880). Age (HR 1.03, 0.98-1.09; p = 0.191) and grade (HR 2.16, 0.78-5.94; p = 0.137) were also non-significant.Conclusions Tumor FGFR3 mRNA expression was strongly associated with a less aggressive phenotype but showed no independent prognostic value for survival in this cohort. FGFR3 may support phenotypic assessment at diagnosis, while its prognostic role warrants validation in larger studies.
SN - 2080-4806
SN - 2080-4873
ER -