Differentiating progressive from nonprogressive T1 bladder cancer by gene expression profiling: applying RNA-sequencing analysis on archived specimens.

Objectives: To identify gene signatures in transitional cell carcinoma that can differentiate high-grade T1 nonprogressive (T1NP) bladder cancer (BCa) from those T1 progressive (T1P) tumors that progress to muscularis propria-invasive T2 tumors.

Materials And Methods: We performed a high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded BCa specimens with clinical pathologic characteristics best representing the general clinical development of the disease. For the T1NP group, only patients with long-term follow-up (6-17y) and periodic examinations (average of 4 resections and 9 cytology tests) were selected.