Costimulatory molecule B7-H1 on the immune escape of bladder cancer and its clinical significance

B7-H1,a recently described member of the B7 family of costimulatory molecules,is thought to be involved in tumor immune escape by inducing T-cell apoptosis.In order to investigate the relationship between B7-H1 and immune escape of bladder cancer,B7-H1 expression in 50 eases of bladder cancer was detected by using immunohistochemical method.Survival curves were con-structed using the Kaplan-Meier method and independent prognostic factors were evaluated usIng the Cox regression model.Our results showed that the positive rate of B7-H1 immunostaining in normal bladder tissue and bladder cancer was 0 and 72% respectively.The expression of B7-H1 was strongly associated with the pathological grade,clinical stage and recurrence (P<0.05).The survival rate was significantly lower in patients with B7-H1 positive group than in those with B7-H1 negative group and multi-variable analysis revealed that B7-H1 could be regarded as an independent factor in evalu-ating the prognosis of bladder cancer.It is concluded that the expression of B7-H1 is strongly associ-ated with neoplastic progression and prognosis of bladder cancer.The manipulation of B7-H1 may become a beneficial target for immunotherapy in human bladder cancer.