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Tumor Heterogeneity and Phenotypic Plasticity in Bladder Carcinoma

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Journal of the Indian Institute of Science Aims and scope

Abstract

Bladder carcinoma is the most common malignancy of the urinary system with a high recurrence rate. As of today, bladder carcinoma does not sufficiently benefit from new therapeutic strategies. The molecularly heterogeneous landscape contributes an enormous challenge in the management of this cancer. Consensus clustering based on gene expression data from muscle-invasive and non-muscle-invasive tumors identified multiple intrinsic molecular subsets of this cancer. In our recent study, we have computed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) scores of three key bladder cancer subtypes followed by the comparative phosphoproteomics profiling of the molecular subtypes. The most aggressive non-type bladder subtype correlated with a mesenchymal-like phenotype. The improved stratification of the molecular features of these subtypes would provide a new opportunity for a deeper understanding of disease pathogenesis. This review focuses on the concepts of cellular plasticity and heterogeneity in bladder carcinoma. We also raised some of the challenges during the discovery and therapeutic intervention of targeted therapy and its clinical implication.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ramanujan Fellowship, for research support. PK is a recipient of the Ramanujan Fellowship awarded by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. BD is a recipient of INSPIRE Fellowship from Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

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  1. Institute of Bioinformatics, Discoverer Building, International Tech Park, Whitefield, Bangalore, 560 066, India

    Barnali Deb & Prashant Kumar

  2. Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, 576104, Karnataka, India

    Barnali Deb & Prashant Kumar

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Deb, B., Kumar, P. Tumor Heterogeneity and Phenotypic Plasticity in Bladder Carcinoma. J Indian Inst Sci 100, 567–578 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41745-020-00183-4

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