Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Urol. Nov 24, 2015; 4(3): 104-107
Published online Nov 24, 2015. doi: 10.5410/wjcu.v4.i3.104
Sweet side of bladder cancer
Paula A Videira
Paula A Videira, UCIBIO, Departamento Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Author contributions: Videira PA wrote and revised the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Paula A Videira, Professor, UCIBIO, Departamento Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campo dos Mártires da Pátria no. 130, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. p.videira@fct.unl.pt
Telephone: +351-9-68169892 Fax: +351-2-12954461
Received: May 23, 2015
Peer-review started: May 23, 2015
First decision: September 18, 2015
Revised: September 21, 2015
Accepted: November 13, 2015
Article in press: November 17, 2015
Published online: November 24, 2015
Abstract

The malignant transformation of cells is often accompanied by deranged expression of the sugar chains, i.e., glycans, attached the cancer cell surfaces or attached to secreted proteins. The aberrant expression of specific glycans in bladder cancer has also been reported by several research groups. Similarly to other cancers, glycans such as the sialyl Tn antigens have been suggested as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of bladder cancer, and associated with disease progression and patient’s response to treatment. At present our understandings about the role of glycans in bladder cancer is still limited, but at the same time it is now assumed that this understanding urges and it will fuel the development of novel strategies of diagnostic and therapy.

Keywords: Bladder cancer, Glycosylation, Tumor biomarker, Sialyltransferase, Immunotherapy, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin

Core tip: The deranged expression of glycans in bladder cancer has been reported, but somehow disregarded. Glycans, such as the sialyl Tn, show a very tumor specific pattern and have been suggested as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of bladder cancer, and associated with disease progression and patient’s response to treatment. Understandings about the role of glycans in bladder cancer is still limited, but, it is now assumed that this understanding urges and it will fuel the development of novel strategies of diagnostic and therapy.