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Biomarkers of Urological Cancers
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Biomarkers of Urological Cancers

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Biomarkers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 2964

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Aristotelis Bamias

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Second Propaedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Attikon University Hospital, Athens, Greece
Interests: biomarkers; urothelial cancer; prostate cancer; renal cancer; checkpoint inhibitors; PD-L1; KIM-1; FGFR3; BRCA; HRD
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Michalis Liontos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Clinical Therapeutics, Division of Oncology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Alexandra Hospital, 10679 Athens, Greece
Interests: ovarian cancer; uterine cancer; gestational trophoblastic disease; clinical trials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Zisis Kratiras

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
3rd Department of Urology, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Attikon University, Athens, Greece
Interests: biomarker; urothelial cancer; prostate cancer; renal cancer; checkpoint inhibitors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The treatment paradigm in the systemic treatment of urological cancers has been revolutionized during the last decade. This revolution has been the result of the introduction of non-chemotherapy agents to our armamentarium. The most influential classes of agents have been immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), PolyADP-Ribose Polymerase inhibitors (PARPis), and antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), followed by various types of targeted therapies, such as inhibitors of fibroblast growth factor 3 (FGFR3) and hypoxia-inducible factor 2a (HIF2a).

Although all of the abovementioned agents target distinct factors in cancer cells or the cancer microenvironment, some of which can be detected by immunohistochemistry or molecular methods, biomarkers are currently rarely used in everyday practice for patient selection. This is counterintuitive and increases the cost/benefit ratio.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, titled “Biomarkers of Urological Cancers”. This Special Issue aims to describe the current role of biomarkers in this field, address the current limitations in their use in everyday practice, and discuss current biomarker-driven clinical trials.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Biomarkers of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
  • Biomarkers of muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
  • Biomarkers of prostate cancer.
  • Biomarkers of renal cancer.
  • Biomarkers for radiotherapy.
  • Methodological issues regarding biomarkers in urological cancers.
  • Current role of biomarkers in everyday practice.
  • Studies evaluating biomarkers in urological cancers.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Aristotelis Bamias
Dr. Michalis Liontos
Dr. Zisis Kratiras
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biomarkers
  • urothelial cancer
  • prostate cancer
  • renal cancer
  • checkpoint inhibitors
  • PD-L1
  • KIM-1
  • FGFR3
  • BRCA
  • HRD

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 3708 KB  
Article
Evidence for a Tumor-Suppressive Role of SHP-1 in EMT Regulation in Bladder Cancer Cells
by Kailey Hooper, Shannon McNall, Daniel Pohl, Travis Sullivan, Eric Burks and Kimberly Rieger-Christ
Cancers 2026, 18(9), 1401; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18091401 - 28 Apr 2026
Viewed by 364
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Src homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase 1 (SHP-1), also known as protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 6, functions as a tumor suppressor in breast, hepatocellular, and prostate cancers and an oncogene in glioblastoma and cervical cancer. A previous analysis of The [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Src homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase 1 (SHP-1), also known as protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 6, functions as a tumor suppressor in breast, hepatocellular, and prostate cancers and an oncogene in glioblastoma and cervical cancer. A previous analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset revealed that lower SHP-1 transcript levels in bladder tumors were associated with poorer overall survival. Methods: This study aimed to evaluate the role of SHP-1 in bladder cancer and to assess the functional impact of its forced expression and knockdown in bladder carcinoma cell lines. SHP-1 expression was assessed in 19 bladder cancer cell lines and 26 bladder tissues. Lentiviral transduction was used to knock down or overexpress SHP-1 in four cell lines, followed by Western blot analysis of SHP-1 and pAkt/Akt protein expression. Results: SHP-1 protein levels were significantly lower in highly invasive cell lines (p < 0.001) and muscle-invasive tumors (p < 0.05). Functional studies demonstrated that SHP-1 modulation influenced the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype. SHP-1 expression was positively correlated with E-cadherin expression (p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with N-cadherin (p < 0.01) and Vimentin (p < 0.05) expression. Alteration of SHP-1 expression in bladder cancer cell lines affected proliferation, invasion, and migration (p < 0.05). RNA-seq analysis of the transduced cell lines revealed enrichment of gene sets related to EMT and signaling pathways involving MYC, PI3K, Akt, and mTOR. Furthermore, SHP-1 alteration impacted pAkt/Akt ratios (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Collectively, lower SHP-1 protein expression correlated with more aggressive phenotypes in bladder cancer cell lines and bladder tumors. In our limited dataset, reduced SHP-1 expression correlated with muscle-invasive disease, suggesting a potential link to more advanced tumor biology, consistent with TCGA associating reduced SHP-1 transcript expression to poorer survival rates. Our data provide preliminary functional evidence that SHP-1 may modulate Akt signaling in bladder cancer. Together, these results support further investigation of SHP-1 as a possible tumor suppressor, candidate prognostic biomarker, and potential therapeutic target in bladder cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers of Urological Cancers)
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28 pages, 23948 KB  
Article
Angiogenesis-Informed Preoperative CT Radiogenomics Predicts Overall Survival in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma: Development and External Validation
by Yanghuang Zheng, Yuelin Du, Zhongwei Ma, Yao Luo, Jianzhong Lu and Panfeng Shang
Cancers 2026, 18(5), 768; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18050768 - 27 Feb 2026
Viewed by 847
Abstract
Background/Objectives: We aimed to identify angiogenesis-related prognostic biomarkers and develop a radiogenomics model to predict overall survival (OS) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), supporting risk stratification and potential therapeutic target discovery. Methods: Bulk transcriptomes from The Cancer Genome Atlas Kidney Renal [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: We aimed to identify angiogenesis-related prognostic biomarkers and develop a radiogenomics model to predict overall survival (OS) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), supporting risk stratification and potential therapeutic target discovery. Methods: Bulk transcriptomes from The Cancer Genome Atlas Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma cohort (TCGA-KIRC), seven Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) microarrays, and a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) dataset were integrated to identify angiogenesis-related prognostic genes. Preoperative contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) images from The Cancer Imaging Archive Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma collection (TCIA-KIRC) were used for radiomics feature extraction, and a radiogenomics signature was constructed by linking radiomic features with transcriptomic risk patterns. Nine machine learning models were trained to predict OS; the best model was further evaluated in an independent external retrospective cohort. PDLIM1 (PDZ and LIM domain protein 1) was validated at the protein level, and conditioned medium from stable ccRCC cell lines was applied to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) for Matrigel tube formation assays. Results: Five angiogenesis-related hub genes (PDLIM1, EMCN, ARPC1B, PLAT, and TIMP1) were identified. The extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost)-based radiogenomics model showed the best performance, with time-dependent concordance index (C-index) values of 0.880, 0.816, and 0.789 at 1, 3, and 5 years in the training set and 0.864, 0.758, and 0.736 in the internal validation set, respectively. In the external validation cohort, C-index values were 0.800, 0.726, and 0.703 at 1, 3, and 5 years. PDLIM1 protein was upregulated in ccRCC versus normal tissues. Functionally, PDLIM1 overexpression suppressed, whereas PDLIM1 knockdown promoted tube formation. Conclusions: This study developed and validated an angiogenesis-related radiogenomics model that accurately predicts OS in ccRCC patients and provides potential therapeutic targets for anti-angiogenic therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers of Urological Cancers)
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14 pages, 732 KB  
Article
Differential Androgen Receptor Expression Across Bladder Cancer Stages and Its Link to Poor Outcomes
by Henning Plage, Nadine Biernath, Kira Furlano, Sarah Weinberger, Jonathan Jeutner, Annika Fendler, Florian Roßner, Simon Schallenberg, Sefer Elezkurtaj, Martina Kluth, Maximilian Lennartz, Andreas Holger Marx, Henrik Samtleben, Margit Fisch, Michael Rink, Marcin Slojewski, Krystian Kaczmarek, Stefan Koch, Nico Adamini, Sarah Minner, Ronald Simon, Guido Sauter, Henrik Zecha, Thorsten Ecke, Thorsten Schlomm, David Horst and Bernhard Rallaadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Cancers 2025, 17(24), 3990; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers17243990 - 15 Dec 2025
Viewed by 843
Abstract
Urinary bladder cancer is the tenth most common malignancy worldwide and represents a major global health burden [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers of Urological Cancers)
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Review

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12 pages, 343 KB  
Review
KIM-1 as a Biomarker in Genitourinary Neoplasms
by Christos Veros and Aristotelis Bamias
Cancers 2026, 18(8), 1266; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18081266 - 16 Apr 2026
Viewed by 484
Abstract
Kidney Injury Molecule-1 (KIM-1), a type I transmembrane glycoprotein, is emerging as a promising biomarker in the landscape of genitourinary malignancies. Initially it was described for its role in renal tubular injury, but it is currently being studied for its expression in various [...] Read more.
Kidney Injury Molecule-1 (KIM-1), a type I transmembrane glycoprotein, is emerging as a promising biomarker in the landscape of genitourinary malignancies. Initially it was described for its role in renal tubular injury, but it is currently being studied for its expression in various neoplasms, particularly renal cell carcinoma, where it correlates with tumor grade, stage and prognosis. Recent studies have demonstrated its potential usefulness as a non-invasive diagnostic tool through urinary and plasma/serum studies, offering a valuable adjunct to imaging and pathology studies. KIM-1 may also play a role in urothelial cancer, although its specificity and relevance in this context are not clearly established yet. The following review presents our current knowledge on the biology of KIM-1, its expression patterns across various genitourinary tumors and its clinical implications in early detection, prognosis and treatment monitoring. We also explore the limitations and future directions regarding the integration of KIM-1 into precision oncology approaches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers of Urological Cancers)
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