Bladder cancer is one of the most common urological malignant diseases worldwide and is currently ranked as the 10th most common form of cancer with a high recurrence risk, poor survival rate and low mortality. Bladder cancer is a heterogenous disease classified into two major stages of disease as either the most common presentation, non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) or muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). NMIBC has been found to have a high recurrence rate and may progress to invasive disease whereas as MIBC may be accompanied by metastasis and also has a poor prognosis with ~50% risk of progression to metastatic disease. There are various treatment and therapeutic options for bladder cancer patients depending on stage including complete transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT), intravesical treatments, radical cystectomy (RC) with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy and bladder-preserving chemoradiotherapy. However, despite therapeutic options, the outcomes remain poor and tumor biology is poorly understood. Therefore, further research is required to understand the molecular mechanisms to identify novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and target treatment effectively.
Tumor progression is a complex process that is dependent on tumor molecular profile as well as the tumor microenvironment (TME) which includes stromal, endothelial and tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Studies have identified the TME as a key player in the process of tumor progression, therapeutic resistance and the impact it has on clinical outcomes. There have been several studies highlighting the dysfunction of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) and immune-related genes associated with the tumor stage and grade which influence the state of the disease. Immunotherapy for bladder cancer involves immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) which promote an anti-tumor immune response. There are several immune checkpoint inhibitors which target programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) and its ligands PDL1 and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) which are utilised for the treatment of bladder cancer. However, this form of treatment has been found to only be effective in approximately 20% of patients. Therefore, further research is required to understand how the immune microenvironment influences the clinical outcome of bladder cancer patients.
The aim of this Research Topic is to provide a comprehensive discussion based on the influence of the immune microenvironment in the progression of bladder cancer and how it impacts the clinical outcome of bladder cancer patients. We welcome Original Research Articles, Review Articles and Systematic Reviews.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Bladder cancer is one of the most common urological malignant diseases worldwide and is currently ranked as the 10th most common form of cancer with a high recurrence risk, poor survival rate and low mortality. Bladder cancer is a heterogenous disease classified into two major stages of disease as either the most common presentation, non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) or muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). NMIBC has been found to have a high recurrence rate and may progress to invasive disease whereas as MIBC may be accompanied by metastasis and also has a poor prognosis with ~50% risk of progression to metastatic disease. There are various treatment and therapeutic options for bladder cancer patients depending on stage including complete transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT), intravesical treatments, radical cystectomy (RC) with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy and bladder-preserving chemoradiotherapy. However, despite therapeutic options, the outcomes remain poor and tumor biology is poorly understood. Therefore, further research is required to understand the molecular mechanisms to identify novel biomarkers for early diagnosis and target treatment effectively.
Tumor progression is a complex process that is dependent on tumor molecular profile as well as the tumor microenvironment (TME) which includes stromal, endothelial and tumor-infiltrating immune cells. Studies have identified the TME as a key player in the process of tumor progression, therapeutic resistance and the impact it has on clinical outcomes. There have been several studies highlighting the dysfunction of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) and immune-related genes associated with the tumor stage and grade which influence the state of the disease. Immunotherapy for bladder cancer involves immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) which promote an anti-tumor immune response. There are several immune checkpoint inhibitors which target programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) and its ligands PDL1 and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) which are utilised for the treatment of bladder cancer. However, this form of treatment has been found to only be effective in approximately 20% of patients. Therefore, further research is required to understand how the immune microenvironment influences the clinical outcome of bladder cancer patients.
The aim of this Research Topic is to provide a comprehensive discussion based on the influence of the immune microenvironment in the progression of bladder cancer and how it impacts the clinical outcome of bladder cancer patients. We welcome Original Research Articles, Review Articles and Systematic Reviews.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.