SPLICING VARIANTS OF CARBONIC ANHYDRASE IX IN BLADDER CANCER AND URINE SEDIMENTS

In human cancers, carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) influences cell proliferation and tumor progression, maintaining intracellular and extracellular pH under hypoxic conditions. An alternative CAIX isoform, lacking of exons 8-9 (AS) and independent from the levels of hypoxia, was recently demonstrated in cancer cells. AS-CAIX competes with the full-length (FL) isoform in the regulation of the extracellular pH, mainly in a mild hypoxic status. In the present study, we evaluated mRNA expression of the 2 CAIX isoforms and their clinical relevance in bladder cancers and urine sediments.