Evolving hallmarks in urothelial bladder cancer: unveiling potential biomarkers ; Características biológicas do carcinoma urotelial da bexiga: à descoberta de potenciais biomarcadores

Urothelial bladder carcinoma (UBC), the most frequent type (90%) of bladder cancer and the second most common malignancy of the urogenital region, is a relatively well understood type of cancer, with numerous studies concerning pathogenetic pathways, natural history and bladder tumor biology being reported. Despite this, it continues to remain a challenge in the oncology field, mostly due to its relapsing and progressive nature, and to the heterogeneity in the response to cisplatin-containing regimens. Although the formulae based on clinical staging and histopathological parameters are classically used as diagnostic and prognostic tools, they have proven insufficient to characterize the individual biological features and clinical behaviour of the tumours. Understanding the pathobiology of the disease can add important information to these classical criteria, and contribute to accurately predict outcome and individualize therapy for UBC patients. In this line of investigation, we found that tumour angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, the process of invasion and metastasis and the energy metabolism reprogramming/tumour microenvironment encompass several potential biomarkers that seem to infl bladder cancer aggressiveness and chemoresistance. We particularly highlight the roles of lymphovascular invasion, and of RKIP, CD147 and MCT1 immunoexpressions, as relevant prognostic and/or predictive biomarkers, and as promising areas of therapeutic intervention, eliciting for the development of additional studies that can validate and further explore these biomarkers. ; O carcinoma urotelial da bexiga (CUB), o tipo de cancro mais frequente deste órgão (90%) e o segundo mais comum da região genitourinária, está relativamente bem caracterizado, fundamentado por inúmeros estudos sobre vias patogenéticas, histogénese e biologia tumoral. No entanto, permanece como um desafio na oncologia, principalmente devido à sua elevada taxa de recidiva e progressão, e à heterogeneidade na resposta a tratamentos de quimioterapia contendo ...