To identify targets of genetic and epigenetic alterations on chromosome 11p15.5 in human bladder cancer, expression of the imprinted KIP2, IGF2 and H19 genes was studied by quantitative RT-PCR in 24 paired samples of urothelial carcinomas and morphologically normal mucosa obtained by cystectomy, and in bladder carcinoma cell lines. This evidence concerns the gene H19 and urothelial carcinoma.