Urothelial Cancer Stem Cells Features and Toll-Like Receptors Signaling Pathway in the Non-Muscle and Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

• Grant number: 11/14223-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2011
• End date: September 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Wagner José Fávaro
• Grantee: Vitor Hugo Figueiredo de Jesus
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The high frequency of recurrence of bladder cancer and its heterogeneous presentation prompted us to suppose that cancer stem cells (CSCs) could be involved in the development of this kind of tumor. CSCs constitute a rare population of undifferentiated tumorigenic cells responsible for tumor initiation, maintenance, and spreading. The role of toll-like receptors (TLRs) in cancer is a matter of debate because conflicting data argue for TLRs being negative or positive regulators of cancer. Thus, the aims of this work are to characterize and to compare the CSCs and TLRs features in men with Non-Muscle and Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer. Thirty urinary bladder samples will be obtained from 60 to 90-year-old patients with and without urothelial lesions. The bladder samples will be divided into three groups (10 samples per group): Normal group (no lesions), Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC) group and Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (MIBC) group. The Normal Group will include 10 urinary bladder samples, which will be obtained from necropsied patients without diagnosis of urothelial or other urological diseases. The NMIBC and MIBC groups will include the other twenty urinary bladder samples, which will be taken from patients submitted to transurethral resection and/or radical cystectomy. All urinary bladder samples will be submitted to histopathological and immunological analysis.