ACTA FAC MED NAISS 2008; 25 (2): 75-80

Review article

URINARY AND TISSUE PROTEOMICS OF UROTHELIAL CANCER

Irena Dimov¹,
Pesic Ivana²,
Ljubinka Jankovic Velickovic ³ 

¹Institute of Immunology Faculty of Medicine, University of Nis, Serbia

²Institute of Pathophysiology Faculty of Medicine, University of Nis, Serbia

³Department of Pathology Faculty of Medicine, University of Nis, Serbia

SUMMARY

Current explosion of „omics“ technologies within functional genomics and proteomics  promises to take a central place in the understanding of pathogenesis, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of (pre)cancers of many different sites. Urothelial cancer is a common malignant disease characterized by multiple localisations and frequent recurrences. Proteomics is expected to play the key role in early diagnosis and distinction of biological potential among the low grade urothelial cancers, with the long-term goal of predicting their evolution in terms of outcome, avoiding invasive diagnostic procedures. This review covers a selection of advances of proteomics application and its promise for transitional cell carcinoma research. Proteomics offers an attractive approach to biomarker discovery. Protein profiling of urine could provide us with low-cost and noninvasive diagnostic approach for transitional cell carcinoma. Tissue protein profiling is far more complicated than the analysis of fluids, but it could provide more accurate information of healthy and malignant urothelium.

Key words: urothelial cancer, biomarkers, urinary proteomics, tissue proteomics, diagnosis