Tumor morphology as a risk factor for muscle invasiveness in newly diagnosed bladder cancer: a stratified analysis
Do NT, Nguyen Tung L, Nguyen Cong D, Do MT. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2026;27(1):151–156.
Summary. Among 416 patients with bladder cancer who underwent transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT), 96 had muscle invasive blader cancer (MIBC) and 320 had non-MIBC (NMIBC). A significantly greater percentage of patients with MIBC had sessile morphology compared to those with NMIBC (68.8% vs 28.4%; P< 0.001). According to multivariate analysis, sessile morphology was associated with a 3-fold increase in MIBC risk compared to papillary tumors (odds ratio [OR]: 3.1; P<0.001). The association between sessile morphology and MIBC risk was greater in patients with >3 tumors (OR: 5.1) and those with a tumor size of ≤3 cm (OR: 3.9).
* PMID: 41569182
Inflammation indices as predictive markers of muscle invasive bladder cancer
Jaromin M, Kutwin P, Konecki T, et al. Cancers (Basel). 2025;18(1):136.
Summary. Researchers analyzed data from 277 patients with 310 bladder tumors to determine the ability of 4 systemic inflammation indices—Pan-immune Inflammation Value (PIV), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), Systemic Inflammation Index (SII), and Systemic Inflammation Response Index (SIRI)—to predict MIBC. All indices demonstrated significant differences between NIMBC and MIBC, with the NIMBC group showing lower values than the MIBC group. PIV was the most differentiating index, having the highest F values and demonstrating statistical significance in 5 tumor stage comparisons. All indices showed good diagnostic performance on receiver operating characteristic curve analyses, with areas under the curve ranging from 0.795 (PLR), 0.812 (SII), 0.816 (SIRI), and 0.821 (PIV).
* PMID: 41514644, PMCID: PMC12784776
Preoperative serum albumin level is associated with postoperative short- and long-term renal function deterioration in patients who underwent radical cystectomy for bladder cancer
Song B, Lee H, Lee S, et al. Investig Clin Urol. 2026;67(1):24–31.
Summary. Among 272 patients who underwent radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer, 20 (7.4%) developed postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) and 99 (36.4%) experienced postoperative chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression. A significantly greater percentage of patients with preoperative serum albumin <4.1 g/dL compared to those with serum albumin ≥4.1 g/dL developed postoperative AKI (P= 0.008) or CKD progression (P< 0.001). According to multivariable analysis, preoperative serum albumin level <4.1 g/dL was an independent risk factor for both postoperative AKI (OR: 3.76; P= 0.027) and CKD progression (OR: 2.87; P< 0.001). Higher estimated glomerular filtration rate was associated with decreased risk of postoperative AKI (OR: 0.96; P= 0.044) and CKD progression (OR: 0.97; P< 0.001).
* PMID: 41469903, PMCID: PMC12792389
Urinary microbiota composition in treatment-naïve bladder cancer: a case-control study with tumor invasiveness stratification
Kayer A, Özen A, Dinleyici EÇ. Medicina (Kaunas). 2025;61(12):2240.
Summary. Comparing urinary microbiota of 30 treatment-naïve patients with bladder cancer and 20 controls, researchers found that alpha and beta diversity did not significantly differ between groups. Firmicutes was the most prominent phylum in both bladder cancer (63.3%) and control (46.3%) groups. At the genus level, Enterococcus was most prevalent in both groups, having a relatively higher abundance in the bladder cancer group (35.0%) compared to the control group (19.8%). Lactobacillus iners was the most abundant species in both groups, with a relatively higher abundance in controls (56.9%) compared to patients (42.1%). Comparing bladder cancer subtypes, Enterococcus was found to more abundant in MIBC vs NMIBC (58.0% vs 26.9%). In MIBC, at the species level, Veillonella dispar (70.9%) was highly abundant.
* PMID: 41470243, PMCID: PMC12735239
High prevalence of smoking-related diseases in high-grade and muscle invasive bladder cancer: opportunities for lung cancer screening
Regazzo R, Ciccarese F, Paglialonga S, et al. Cancers (Basel). 2025;17(23):3741.
Summary. Among 166 patients with high-grade bladder cancer or MIBC, 77 (46.4%) had a history of smoking and 100 (60.2%) had at least one smoking-related disease (SRD). SRD risk was significantly higher in patients with a history of smoking compared to nonsmokers. Pulmonary SRDs were observed in 31.9% of patients, and moderate-to-severe coronary artery calcification occurred in 51.8%. Eleven patients (6.6%) had nodules suspicious for lung cancer. Pulmonary SRDs were more prevalent in smokers compared to nonsmokers (P< 0.01). Emphysema showed a strong association with smoking history, and risk of emphysema was increased in current smokers compared to former smokers (P<0.01).
* PMID: 41374943, PMCID: PMC12691494
Differential androgen receptor expression across bladder cancer stages and its link to poor outcomes
Plage H, Biernath N, Furlano K, et al. Cancers (Basel). 2025;17(24):3990.
Summary. Analyzing 2,398 bladder tumors, the nuclear androgen receptor (AR) positivity rate was 22.9%. AR expression was observed in 25.9% of male patients and 16.2% of female patients (P<0.0001). AR positivity was significantly more frequent in low-grade pTaG2 vs high-grade pTaG2 tumors (49.8% vs 29.1%; P<0.0001). AR positivity was significantly lower in pT2 to pT4 tumors compared to pTa tumors. In patients with muscle invasion who underwent RC, AR positivity was associated with significantly shorter overall survival (OS) in male patients (P=0.0042). Upon multivariable analysis, there was no significant association between AR positivity and OS.
* PMID: 41463239, PMCID: PMC12731148
Sarcopenia measured by artificial intelligence as a predictor of overall survival in localized bladder cancer, a multicenter study
Blondeau A, Pitout A, Manuguerra A, et al. BMC Cancer. 2025;26(1):87.
Summary. In this retrospective study, researchers assessed the reliability of artificial intelligence (AI)–based measurements of sarcopenia among 87 patients with MIBC, as well as the link between sarcopenia and survival outcomes. Area of skeletal muscle at the L3 level (SMA) by AI was correlated with manual measurements (r=0.95; P<0.001). Using the Prado criteria, sarcopenia before chemotherapy and before surgery was significantly associated with decreased OS, and sarcopenia before chemotherapy was associated with reduced PFS.
* PMID: 41382062, PMCID: PMC12821967
DNA methylation as prognostic factors in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Singh V, Singh MK, Kumar A, et al. Oncol Rev. 2025;19:1679974.
Summary. Researchers analyzed data from 11 studies including 3,065 patients with NMIBC to determine the prognostic role of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation in NMIBC. Promoter DNA methylation was associated with reduced PFS (pooled hazard ratio [HR]: 2.88; P< 0.0001). DNA methylation was linked to greater risk of recurrence (pooled HR: 2.65; P< 0.0001). Pooled analysis showed no association between methylation and OS; however, subgroup analysis showed methylation of adhesion/structural genes was associated with worse OS, and methylation of DNA repair/suppressor genes was linked to favorable prognosis.
* PMID: 41377897, PMCID: PMC12685936