ABSTRACT
Bladder cancer is a real health problem due to its increased incidence, high recurrence rate and the fact that usually it is detected in advanced stages with limited number of diagnostic tools and different therapy response rates to current therapeutic strategies. Because of these issues we must develop screening programs and sensitive diagnostic strategies capable of detecting the disease during its early stages but also for characterizing evolution, prognosis and therapeutic response. Issues of great importance are those related to health quality of life of patients from the moment of diagnosis till the use of existing therapeutic approaches. This paper reviews some facets of life quality in patients diagnosed with bladder cancer stressing upon some proposed questionnaires and some new cell and molecular biology and genomic acquisitions (molecular biomarkers) that may become indicators of prognosis, therapeutic response and life quality but also essential tools in guiding therapeutic strategies.
ABSTRACT
Bladder cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed malignancies worldwide, derived from the urothelium of the urinary bladder and defined by long asymptomatic and atypical clinical picture. Its complex etiopathogenesis is dependent on numerous risk factors that can be divided into three distinct categories: genetic and molecular abnormalities, chemical or environmental exposure and previous genitourinary disorders and family history of different malignancies. Various genetic polymorphisms and microRNA might represent useful diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers. Genetic and molecular abnormalities - risk factors are represented by miRNA or genetic polymorphisms proved to be part of bladder carcinogenesis such as: genetic mutations of oncogenes TP53, Ras, Rb1 or p21 oncoproteins, cyclin D or genetic polymorhisms of XPD,ERCC1, CYP1B1, NQO1C609T, MDM2SNP309, CHEK2, ERCC6, NRF2, NQO1Pro187Ser polymorphism and microRNA (miR-143, -145, -222, -210, -10b, 576-3p). The aim of our article is to highlight the most recent acquisitions via molecular biomarkers (miRNAs and genetic polymorphisms) involved in bladder cancer in order to provide early diagnosis, precise therapy according to the molecular profile of bladder tumors, as well as to improve clinical outcome, survival rates and life quality of oncological patients. These molecular biomarkers play a key role in bladder carcinogenesis, clinical evolution, prognosis and therapeutic response and explain the molecular mechanisms involved in bladder carcinogenesis; they can also be selected as therapeutic targets in developing novel therapeutic strategies in bladder malignancies. Moreover, the purpose in defining these molecular non invasive biomarkers is also to develop non invasive screening programs in bladder malignancies with the result of decreasing bladder cancer incidence in risk population.
