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REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Genitourinary Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1554819
Unraveling the Multifaceted Roles of Extracellular Vesicles in Bladder Cancer: Diagnostic Insights and Therapeutic Opportunities
Provisionally accepted- 1Department of Nephrology, Blood Purification Research Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China., Fuzhou, China
- 2Department of Urology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
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Bladder cancer, predominantly urothelial carcinoma, is a global health issue with increasing incidences and mortality. It poses significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges due to its molecular heterogeneity and the limitations of current detection methods. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, play a crucial role in intercellular communication and have emerged as potential biomarkers and therapeutic agents in bladder cancer. This review focuses on the multifaceted roles of EVs in bladder cancer biology, their potential as diagnostic biomarkers, and their use in therapeutic strategies. We discuss how EVs reflect molecular subtypes of bladder cancer, participate in metabolic reprogramming and angiogenesis, and modulate cellular behavior.The review also highlights the advances in proteomic analysis of urinary and tissue-exudative EVs, identifying specific proteins and RNAs that could serve as non-invasive diagnostic markers. Furthermore, we explore the innovative use of EVs as natural nanocarriers for drug delivery in bladder cancer treatment, demonstrating their potential to enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy and selectively target cancer cells. The integration of EV-based diagnostics with traditional methods could lead to more personalized and effective bladder cancer management, emphasizing the need for further research and clinical validation.
Keywords: Bladder cancer, Extracellular vesicle, Tumor Microenvironment, biomarker, Drug delivery
Received: 03 Jan 2025; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Yang, Xu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yanfang Xu, Department of Nephrology, Blood Purification Research Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China., Fuzhou, China
Yujia Wang, Department of Nephrology, Blood Purification Research Center, the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China., Fuzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.