Letter to Editor
New Challenges of Urothelial Carcinoma
Patrizia Straccia*
Division of Anatomic Pathology and Histology, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Foundation “Agostino Gemelli” University Hospital, Italy
*Corresponding author: Patrizia Straccia, Division of Anatomic Pathology and Histology, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Italy
Published: 28 Dec, 2017
Cite this article as: Straccia P. New Challenges of
Urothelial Carcinoma. Clin Oncol. 2017;
2: 1386.
Letter to Editor
Urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the bladderis a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide,
causing an estimated 150,000 deaths per year [1].
Although the treatment for UC has improved over the last several decades, diagnostic techniques
have progressed more slowly. Cystoscopy Is Still Considered the best method for diagnosing UC,
butitis invasive, uncomfortable, and can only detect approximately 90% of lesions. On the other
side, urine cytology has the advantages of being a simple, cost-effective, and noninvasive test, while
has shown a wide range of sensitivity (11%-76%) depending on the specimen type, clinical setting
and grade of urothelial tumors. Because Cystoscopy are invasive and cytology has poor sensitivity, a
noninvasive, highly sensitive and specific markers have been sought as alternatives to cystoscopy and
cytology for the detection and surveillance of bladder cancer. Urine markers have been evaluated in
all clinical scenarios, but often they are not routinely utilized. The limitations of established bladder
cancer biomarkers requires us to identify better molecular parameters that could be clinically useful
for diagnosis and prognosis, in particular, for the high-risk patient groups that are usually at high
risk of progression, recurrence and metastasis. The efficacy of immunotherapy in non-muscle
invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder was first established in 1976 with Bacillus Calmette-
Guerin, but no immunotherapy has been approved for the treatment of advanced disease.
Over time, an improved understanding of immunobiology uncovered the importance of
immune checkpoints in facilitating tumor escape, leading to the development of multiple novel
the rapeuticstargeting the CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4, CD152) and
PD-1/PD-L1 (programmedcelldeathprotein 1, CD279; programmed death-ligand 1, CD274)
immune check points. Once the immune check points have been blocked, the equilibrium between
the autoimmunity and immune tolerance will be affected [2]. In particular, melanoma, renal cell
carcinoma (RCC), and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have demonstrated durable responses
to immune checkpoint inhibition.
In the tumor microenvironment, PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1 perform a vitalrole in tumor
progression and survival by escapingtumorneutralizing immune surveillance. It has been found
that PD-1isexpressedonavarietyofimmunecells, such as Monocytes, T cells, B cells, dendritically,
and tumor-infiltratinglymphocytes (TILs). However, PDL-1 is expressed in tumor cells and
anti representing cells (APCs), and the engagement of PDL1 with PD-1 of T cell creates T cell
dysfunction, exhaustion, neutralization, and interleukin-10 (IL-10) production in a tumor mass [3].
In 2016, the FDA approved using Atezolizumab for treating patients who have advanced or
metastatic urothelial carcinoma in which their diseases worsen during or after using platinumcontaining
chemo therapy. Atezolizumab was approved based on a multi-center single-arm trial
that had 310 patients. It was found that Atezolizumab showed good activity as immune checkpoint
inhibitors. It was noted that as the expression of PD-L1 increases, the response increases [4].
Currently, the prognostic value of PD-L1 IC expression is unknown, with conflicting reports in
the literature, although it does not appear to be associated with validated adverse risk factors.
Ultimately, immunotherapy, and immune checkpoint inhibition in particular, has led to
a paradigm shift in oncology, requiring development of new radiographic response criteria and
altering expectations for durable responses with therapy. The promising efficacy of these agents
combined with an increasing understanding of the complicated interactions between the immune
system and tumor foster optimism for progress in biomarker development in this field.
References
- Jemal A, Bray F, Center MM, Ferlay J, Ward E, Forman D. Global cancer statistics. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2011; 61: 69-90.
- Alsaab H. PD-1 and PD-L1 Checkpoint SignalingInhibition for CancerImmunotherapy: Mechanism, Combinations, and Clinical Outcome. Front. Pharmacol. 2017.
- Sun Z, Fourcade J, Pagliano O, Chauvin J M, Sander C, Kirkwood JM. IL10 and PD-1 cooperate to limit the activity of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells. Cancer Res. 2015; 75: 1635-1644.
- Rosenberg JE, Hoffman-CensitsJ, Powles T. Atezolizumab in patients with locally advanced and metastaticurothelial carcinoma who have progressed following treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy: a single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 trial. Lancet. 2016; 387: 1909-20.