Dr. Meeks on the Importance of p53 and Rb1 in Bladder Cancer

Joshua J. Meeks, MD, PhD, assistant professor of urology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, discusses the importance of p53 and Rb1 in bladder cancer.

P53 is not a biomarker, although it is present in over 70% of muscle-invasive tumors, says Meeks. The same frequency is found in patients with T1 tumors. P53 plays an integral role in bladder cancer. As was reflected in genetic models in mice, it was discovered that a patient is going to lose p53 and Rb1 expression in almost all of these tumors.

As the field progresses, subtypes will become more prominent, explains Meeks. Currently, the 5 subtypes are luminal papillary, true luminal, luminal-infiltrated, basal, and neuronal. As physicians uncover more about these tumors, subtyping will become more important to the prognostication and prediction of certain therapies—both chemotherapy and immunotherapy, he concludes.