Publications

In the Spotlight: Novel Cytokine Signature Discovered in Bladder Cancer

Cytokines are known to be a key factor in numerous malignancies and exert an important regulatory role in the tumor microenvironment. Interest has grown in understanding how cytokines modulate the tumor microenvironment and which cytokines may serve as markers of the tumor process; however, a complete picture of the cytokine landscape in bladder cancer remains unclear. Our study measured the concentrations of four cytokines present in the urine of patients with a history of bladder cancer as well as a control cohort. Significantly elevated concentrations of IL-6 and IL-8 were detected in the urine from patients with urothelial carcinoma on follow-up compared to patients with benign follow-up. The presence of both IL-6 and IL-8 in the urine samples from the high-grade urothelial carcinoma cohort revealed a clear discrimination when compared to samples from patients with benign follow-up. These results indicate that IL-6 and IL-8 in urine specimens may have predictive value for urothelial carcinoma and support the need for larger longitudinal studies.