scholarly journals Evolution of Urothelial Bladder Cancer in the Context of Molecular Classifications

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 5670
Author(s):  
Martina Minoli ◽  
Mirjam Kiener ◽  
George N. Thalmann ◽  
Marianna Kruithof-de Julio ◽  
Roland Seiler

Bladder cancer is a heterogeneous disease that is not depicted by current classification systems. It was originally classified into non-muscle invasive and muscle invasive. However, clinically and genetically variable tumors are summarized within both classes. A definition of three groups may better account for the divergence in prognosis and probably also choice of treatment. The first group represents mostly non-invasive tumors that reoccur but do not progress. Contrarily, the second group represent non-muscle invasive tumors that likely progress to the third group, the muscle invasive tumors. High throughput tumor profiling improved our understanding of the biology of bladder cancer. It allows the identification of molecular subtypes, at least three for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (Class I, Class II and Class III) and six for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (luminal papillary, luminal non-specified, luminal unstable, stroma-rich, basal/squamous and neuroendocrine-like) with distinct clinical and molecular phenotypes. Molecular subtypes can be potentially used to predict the response to treatment (e.g., neoadjuvant chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors). Moreover, they may allow to characterize the evolution of bladder cancer through different pathways. However, to move towards precision medicine, the understanding of the biological meaning of these molecular subtypes and differences in the composition of cell subpopulations will be mandatory.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélie Kamoun ◽  
Aurélien de Reyniès ◽  
Yves Allory ◽  
Gottfrid Sjödahl ◽  
A. Gordon Robertson ◽  
...  

AbstractMuscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (MIBC) is a molecularly diverse disease with heterogeneous clinical outcomes. Several molecular classifications have been proposed, yielding diverse sets of subtypes, which hampers the clinical implications of such knowledge. Here, we report the results of a large international effort to reach a consensus on MIBC molecular subtypes. Using 1750 MIBC transcriptomes and a network-based analysis of six independent MIBC classification systems, we identified a consensus set of six molecular classes: Luminal Papillary (24%), Luminal Non-Specified (8%), Luminal Unstable (15%), Stroma-rich (15%), Basal/Squamous (35%), and Neuroendocrine-like (3%). These consensus classes differ regarding underlying oncogenic mechanisms, infiltration by immune and stromal cells, and histological and clinical characteristics. This consensus system offers a robust framework that will enable testing and validating predictive biomarkers in future clinical trials.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Garczyk ◽  
Felix Bischoff ◽  
Ursula Schneider ◽  
Reinhard Golz ◽  
Friedrich-Carl von Rundstedt ◽  
...  

AbstractReliable factors predicting the disease course of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) with carcinoma in situ (CIS) are unavailable. Molecular subtypes have potential for prognostic stratification of muscle-invasive bladder cancer, while their value for CIS patients is unknown. Here, the prognostic impact of both clinico-pathological parameters, including CIS focality, and immunohistochemistry-based surrogate subtypes was analyzed in a cohort of high-risk NMIBC patients with CIS. In 128 high-risk NMIBC patients with CIS, luminal (KRT20, GATA3, ERBB2) and basal (KRT5/6, KRT14) surrogate markers as well as p53 were analyzed in 213–231 biopsies. To study inter-lesional heterogeneity of CIS, marker expression in independent CIS biopsies from different bladder localizations was analyzed. Clinico-pathological parameters and surrogate subtypes were correlated with recurrence-free (RFS), progression-free (PFS), cancer-specific (CSS), and overall survival (OS). Forty-six and 30% of CIS patients exhibited a luminal-like (KRT20-positive, KRT5/6-negative) and a null phenotype (KRT20-negative, KRT5/6-negative), respectively. A basal-like subtype (KRT20-negative, KRT5/6-positive) was not observed. A significant degree of inter-lesional CIS heterogeneity was noted, reflected by 23% of patients showing a mixed subtype. Neither CIS surrogate subtype nor CIS focality was associated with patient outcome. Patient age and smoking status were the only potentially independent prognostic factors predicting RFS, PFS, OS, and PFS, respectively. In conclusion, further clarification of heterogeneity of surrogate subtypes in HR NMIBC and their prognostic value is of importance with regard to potential implementation of molecular subtyping into clinical routine. The potential prognostic usefulness of patient age and smoking status for high-risk NMIBC patients with CIS needs further validation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 7201
Author(s):  
In-Ho Kim ◽  
Hyo-Jin Lee

Radical cystectomy is the primary treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer; however, approximately 50% of patients develop metastatic disease within 2 years of diagnosis, which results in dismal prognosis. Therefore, systemic treatment is important to improve the prognosis of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Currently, several guidelines recommend cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy before radical cystectomy, and adjuvant chemotherapy is recommended in patients who have not received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have recently become the standard treatment option for metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Owing to their clinical benefits, several immune checkpoint inhibitors, with or without other agents (including other immunotherapy, cytotoxic chemotherapy, and emerging agents such as antibody drug conjugates), are being extensively investigated in perioperative settings. Several studies for perioperative immunotherapy have shown that immune checkpoint inhibitors have promising efficacy with relatively low toxicity, and have explored the predictive molecular biomarkers. Herein, we review the current evidence and discuss the future perspectives of perioperative systemic treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 5084-5100
Author(s):  
Antonio Gómez Caamaño ◽  
Ana M. García Vicente ◽  
Pablo Maroto ◽  
Alfredo Rodríguez Antolín ◽  
Julián Sanz ◽  
...  

This review presents challenges and recommendations on different aspects related to the management of patients with localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), which were discussed by a group of experts of a Spanish Oncology Genitourinary (SOGUG) Working Group within the framework of the Genitourinary Alliance project (12GU). It is necessary to clearly define which patients are candidates for radical cystectomy and which are candidates for undergoing bladder-sparing procedures. In older patients, it is necessary to include a geriatric assessment and evaluation of comorbidities. The pathological report should include a classification of the histopathological variant of MIBC, particularly the identification of subtypes with prognostic, molecular and therapeutic implications. Improvement of clinical staging, better definition of prognostic groups based on molecular subtypes, and identification of biomarkers potentially associated with maximum benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy are areas for further research. A current challenge in the management of MIBC is improving the selection of patients likely to be candidates for immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors in the neoadjuvant setting. Optimization of FDG-PET/CT reliability in staging of MIBC and the selection of patients is necessary, as well as the design of prospective studies aimed to compare the value of different imaging techniques in parallel.


2021 ◽  
pp. 030089162110616
Author(s):  
Fausto Petrelli ◽  
Gianluca Perego ◽  
Ivano Vavassori ◽  
Andrea Luciani

In urothelial cancer of the bladder, the introduction of immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors represents progress in the management of the disease’s early and advanced stages. In particular, recent studies have implemented these drugs in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant phases to treat muscle-invasive bladder cancer. In some studies, patients received neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors alone (PURE and ABACUS) to treat muscle invasive bladder cancer, whereas other studies provided this therapy to cisplatin-ineligible patients. Furthermore, a large Phase III study (CheckMate 247) compared placebo with adjuvant nivolumab therapy in patients with high-risk urothelial cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery or surgery alone. Despite some uncertain niches (nonbladder, PD-L1-negative tumors, and node-negative resected cancers), certain biological opportunities (exploring new targets, evaluating in vivo pathologic response, focusing on biomarkers for response) and clinical uses (avoiding chemotherapy at all or in frail patients, attaining similar pathologic complete response rates as in cisplatin-based chemotherapy) are valid reasons for incorporating these agents into the therapeutic armamentarium of medical uro-oncologists.


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