Oliveira Manuel Castanheira de, Caires Hugo R, Oliveira Maria J, Fraga Avelino, Vasconcelos M Helena, Ribeiro Ricardo
i3S-Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal.
Tumor & Microenvironment Interactions Group, INEB - Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal.
Cancers (Basel). 2020 May 29;12(6):1400. doi: 10.3390/cancers12061400.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small membrane vesicles released by all cells and involved in intercellular communication. Importantly, EVs cargo includes nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins constantly transferred between different cell types, contributing to autocrine and paracrine signaling. In recent years, they have been shown to play vital roles, not only in normal biological functions, but also in pathological conditions, such as cancer. In the multistep process of cancer progression, EVs act at different levels, from stimulation of neoplastic transformation, proliferation, promotion of angiogenesis, migration, invasion, and formation of metastatic niches in distant organs, to immune escape and therapy resistance. Moreover, as products of their parental cells, reflecting their genetic signatures and phenotypes, EVs hold great promise as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Importantly, their potential to overcome the current limitations or the present diagnostic procedures has created interest in bladder cancer (BCa). Indeed, cystoscopy is an invasive and costly technique, whereas cytology has poor sensitivity for early staged and low-grade disease. Several urine-based biomarkers for BCa were found to overcome these limitations. Here, we review their potential advantages and downfalls. In addition, recent literature on the potential of EVs to improve BCa management was reviewed and discussed.
细胞外囊泡（EVs）是所有细胞释放的小膜泡，参与细胞间通讯。重要的是，EVs的货物包括在不同细胞类型之间不断转移的核酸、脂质和蛋白质，有助于自分泌和旁分泌信号传导。近年来，已证明它们不仅在正常生物学功能中，而且在病理状况（如癌症）中发挥重要作用。在癌症进展的多步骤过程中，EVs在不同水平发挥作用，从刺激肿瘤转化、增殖、促进血管生成、迁移、侵袭以及在远处器官形成转移微环境，到免疫逃逸和治疗抗性。此外，作为其亲代细胞的产物，反映了它们的基因特征和表型，EVs作为诊断和预后生物标志物具有巨大潜力。重要的是，它们克服当前局限性或现有诊断程序的潜力引起了对膀胱癌（BCa）的关注。的确，膀胱镜检查是一种侵入性且昂贵的技术，而细胞学对早期和低级别疾病的敏感性较差。已发现几种基于尿液的BCa生物标志物可克服这些局限性。在此，我们综述它们的潜在优势和不足。此外，还对近期有关EVs改善BCa管理潜力的文献进行了综述和讨论。
