Occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons influenced neither the frequency nor the spectrum of FGFR3 mutations in bladder urothelial carcinoma

A Decade of FGF Receptor Research in Bladder Cancer: Past, Present, and Future Challenges

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) orchestrate a variety of cellular functions by binding to their transmembrane tyrosine-kinase receptors (FGFRs) and activating downstream signalling pathways, including RAS/MAPK, PLCγ1, PI3K, and STATs. In the last ten years, it has become clear that FGF signalling is altered in a high proportion of bladder tumours. Activating mutations and/or overexpression of FGFR3 are common in urothelial tumours with low malignant potential and low-stage and -grade urothelial carcinomas (UCs) and are associated with a lower risk of progression and better survival in some subgroups. FGFR1 is not mutated in UC, but overexpression is frequent in all grades and stages and recent data indicate a role in urothelial epithelial-mesenchymal transition. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown that FGFR inhibition has cytotoxic and/or cytostatic effects in FGFR-dependent bladder cancer cells and FGFR-targeted agents are currently being investigated in clinical studies for the treatment of UC. Urine-based tests detecting common FGFR3 mutations are also under development for surveillance of low-grade and -stage tumours and for general population screening. Overall, FGFRs hold promise as therapeutic targets, diagnostic and prognostic markers, and screening tools for early detection and clinical management of UC.

Cigarette smoking and subtypes of bladder cancer

There is little information regarding associations between suspected bladder cancer risk factors and tumor subtypes at diagnosis. Some, but not all, studies have found that bladder cancer among smokers is often more invasive than it is among nonsmokers. This population-based case-control study was conducted in Los Angeles, California, involving 1,586 bladder cancer patients and their individually matched controls. Logistic regression was used to conduct separate analyses according to tumor subtypes defined by stage and grade. Cigarette smoking increased risk of both superficial and invasive bladder cancer, but the more advanced the stage, the stronger the effect. The odds ratios associated with regular smokers were 2.2 (95% confidence intervals, 1.8-2.8), 2.7 (2.1-3.6) and 3.7 (2.5-5.5) for low-grade superficial, high-grade superficial and invasive tumors respectively. This pattern was consistently observed regardless of the smoking exposure index under examination. Women had higher risk of invasive bladder cancer than men even they smoked comparable amount of cigarettes as men. There was no gender difference in the association between smoking and risk of low-grade superficial bladder cancer. The heterogeneous effect of cigarette smoking was attenuated among heavy users of NSAIDs. Our results indicate that cigarette smoking was more strongly associated with increased risk of invasive bladder cancer than with low-grade superficial bladder cancer.

A sequence variant at 4p16.3 confers susceptibility to urinary bladder cancer

Previously, we reported germline DNA variants associated with risk of urinary bladder cancer (UBC) in Dutch and Icelandic subjects. Here we expanded the Icelandic sample set and tested the top 20 markers from the combined analysis in several European case-control sample sets, with a total of 4,739 cases and 45,549 controls. The T allele of rs798766 on 4p16.3 was found to associate with UBC (odds ratio = 1.24, P = 9.9 x 10(-12)). rs798766 is located in an intron of TACC3, 70 kb from FGFR3, which often harbors activating somatic mutations in low-grade, noninvasive UBC. Notably, rs798766[T] shows stronger association with low-grade and low-stage UBC than with more aggressive forms of the disease and is associated with higher risk of recurrence in low-grade stage Ta tumors. The frequency of rs798766[T] is higher in Ta tumors that carry an activating mutation in FGFR3 than in Ta tumors with wild-type FGFR3. Our results show a link between germline variants, somatic mutations of FGFR3 and risk of UBC.