Identifying Novel Biomarkers in Bladder Cancer, 2nd edition

Abstract

Bladder cancer is one of the most common urological diseases with a high mortality rate and poor prognosis. It is currently ranked as the 10th most common malignancy worldwide. The majority of bladder cancer patients have been found to be diagnosed with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and the remaining, are diagnosed with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Although there have been advances in the treatment and therapies provided for bladder cancer patients, the survival rate remains low, primarily due to recurrence and metastasis of the disease following treatment. Surgical treatment is currently the most common form including radical cystectomy which is the standard form of treatment combined with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. However, the 5-year overall survival rate is 50%. Therefore, further studies are required to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the progression of bladder cancer and identify novel biomarkers to act as a diagnostic tool for patients. There have been many studies involving the detection of biomarkers in bladder cancer in addition to monitoring disease recurrence to understand the impact and predict potential outcomes. A variety of urine biomarkers have been developed to detect bladder cancer and prognostic risk stratification including mutational DNA and the levels of RNA expression. Circulating tumor cells have also been identified as a potential biomarker for bladder cancer patients. However, there are significant challenges as bladder cancer has demonstrated high levels of cellular and molecular heterogeneity and some markers do not have sufficient sensitivity for accurate detection. Therefore, further studies are required to continue to identify new novel biomarkers for bladder cancer. The aim of this Research Topic is to discuss novel biomarkers in bladder cancer and how it impacts the disease progression and the survival rate for bladder cancer patients.