The Role of miRNAs to Detect Progression, Stratify, and Predict Relevant Clinical Outcomes in Bladder Cancer

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 25; no. 4; p. 2178
• Main Authors: Torres-Bustamante, Maria Iyali, Vazquez-Urrutia, Jorge Raul, Solorzano-Ibarra, Fabiola, Ortiz-Lazareno, Pablo Cesar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.02.2024
• Subjects: Apoptosis; BCG; BCG vaccines; Biomarkers; Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics; Biomarkers, Tumor - metabolism; Biopsy; Bladder cancer; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Cell growth; Cellular biology; Clinical outcomes; Disease; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling - methods; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Genes; Hematuria; Humans; Medical prognosis; MicroRNA; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - genetics; MicroRNAs - metabolism; miRNAs; Oncology, Experimental; Ovarian cancer; Patients; prognosis; Radiation, Background; Risk factors; RNA polymerase; Surveillance; Thyroid gland; Tumor staging; Tumors; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - diagnosis; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - genetics; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms - pathology; Canada; Mexico; miRNAs; prognosis; biomarkers; bladder cancer
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms25042178

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide, with significant differences in survival depending on the degree of muscle and surrounding tissue invasion. For this reason, the timely detection and monitoring of the disease are important. Surveillance cystoscopy is an invasive, costly, and uncomfortable procedure to monitor BC, raising the need for new, less invasive alternatives. In this scenario, microRNAs (miRNAs) represent attractive prognostic tools given their role as gene regulators in different biological processes, tissue expression, and their ease of evaluation in liquid samples. In cancer, miRNA expression is dynamically modified depending on the tumor type and cancer staging, making them potential biomarkers. This review describes the most recent studies in the last five years exploring the utility of miRNA-based strategies to monitor progression, stratify, and predict relevant clinical outcomes of bladder cancer. Several studies have shown that multimarker miRNA models can better predict overall survival, recurrence, and progression in BC patients than traditional strategies, especially when combining miRNA expression with clinicopathological variables. Future studies should focus on validating their use in different cohorts and liquid samples.