Aggressive tumors grow quickly when transplanted into mice, suggested a new study.
Bladder Cancer – Symptoms, Signs, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prognosis & Prevention
Bladder cancer occurs due to abnormal cell growth in the urinary bladder. The most common kind usually is urothelial cancer or transitional cell carcinoma.
Bladder cancer occurs due to abnormal cell growth in the urinary bladder. The most common kind usually is urothelial cancer or transitional cell carcinoma.
‘Tumor cells collected during the removal of a cancerous bladder and - in some cases - transplanted into mice with weakened immune systems, could help physicians rapidly identify high-risk cancers.’
The researchers, based at the Ludwig Center at the University of
Chicago, found that detection of poorly differentiated basal tumor cells
in early stage cancers; overexpression in those cells of a gene known
as cell division cycle 25C, which plays a key role in the regulation of
cell division; or the ability of tumor fragments to grow when
transplanted into a mouse, all predicted an increased risk of death. "If confirmed in larger studies, our findings could help physicians get a better handle on how a patient's bladder cancer is likely to progress and allow them to personalize treatment based on that knowledge," said study author Ralph Weichselbaum, the Daniel K. Ludwig Distinguished Service Professor of Radiation and Cellular Oncology and Chair of the Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology at the University.
Weichselbaum and colleagues obtained tumor samples from 71 bladder cancer patients treated at the University and used flow cytometry to isolate and count specific subtypes of tumor cells in each sample. They showed that an excess of one relatively rare subtype in early-stage cancers - the basal tumor cell (BTC) - was associated with a three-fold increase in risk of death.
Bladder Cancer Risk, Recurrence, Progression and Patient Survival Linked To Genetic Alterations
Genetic alterations in a particular cellular pathway are linked with bladder cancer risk, recurrence, disease progression, and patient survival finds a new analysis.
Genetic alterations in a particular cellular pathway are linked with bladder cancer risk, recurrence, disease progression, and patient survival finds a new analysis.
This association disappeared in patients who had previously received chemotherapy. A test for CDC25C could, the authors suggest, help determine whether a bladder cancer patient is likely to benefit from drug treatment.
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Role Of Chemotherapy In The Treatment Of Bladder Cancer
While chemotherapy kills the most common type of bladder cancer, chemotherapy also shapes the genetic evolution of cancer cell clones to become drug-resistant.
While chemotherapy kills the most common type of bladder cancer, chemotherapy also shapes the genetic evolution of cancer cell clones to become drug-resistant.
"Prognostic knowledge can change a lot about how you choose to treat a cancer," said Weichselbaum. "We may be able to avoid aggressive measures if we find a tumor has relatively few basal cells," he said. "We could treat an early-stage bladder cancer with less aggressive therapy, avoiding debilitating interventions like radical cystectomy. But if a bladder tumor has a lot of basal cells, we may need to take the entire bladder out and follow that with chemotherapy.
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Research Shows Hope for Bladder Cancer Patients
An estimated 10,000 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year in the UK. It is the seventh most common cancer in the UK, affecting men more than women.
An estimated 10,000 people are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year in the UK. It is the seventh most common cancer in the UK, affecting men more than women.
Source-Eurekalert
