Elucidating Mechanisms of Bladder Cancer Metastasis

Ziel

Bladder cancer is the ninth most afflicted cancer in the world which affects people in both developing and developed countries; and European nations have some of the highest incidences. Poor prognosis and mortality rate is very often linked to formation of secondary tumour sites in these patients. In advanced stages of this cancer, cells strive to invade nearby tissues in a process called metastasis. More often than not, patients suffer more due to metastasis of cancer than through the original tumour. In this project, I will investigate the mechanisms which lead to bladder cancer metastasis; identify key components in the pathways and also test out specific inhibitors to mitigate the growth and/or metastasis. Having an acute knowledge of ‘how and which’ pathway(s) promote metastasis in bladder cancer should provide us with information so that specific components can be targeted. Moreover, the proposed study also focuses on developing state-of-the-art biomarker strategies to identify patient populations which will best benefit from our inhibitor therapies. This project will enable the translation of experimental results obtained from lab bench to understanding how some patients will best benefit from certain inhibitor therapies.