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Review
. 2023 Oct 30;3(1):e20230027.
doi: 10.1002/SMMD.20230027. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Exosomes: Toward a potential application in bladder cancer diagnosis and treatment

Xiaowei Wei  1   2 , Dagan Zhang  2 , Yefei Zhu  1
Affiliations
Review

Exosomes: Toward a potential application in bladder cancer diagnosis and treatment

Xiaowei Wei et al. Smart Med. .

Abstract

Bladder cancer (BC) is a prevalent malignant tumor of the urinary system, known for its rapid progression and high likelihood of recurrence. Despite ongoing efforts, clinical diagnosis and treatment of BC remain limited. As such, there is an urgent need to investigate potential mechanisms underlying this disease. Exosomes, which contain a variety of bioactive molecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids, are regarded as extracellular messengers because they are implicated in facilitating intercellular communication in various diseases and are pivotal in tumor advancement, serving as a promising avenue for such researches. Nevertheless, the heterogeneous nature of BC necessitates further exploration of the potential involvement of exosomes in disease progression. This review comprehensively outlines the biological attributes of exosomes and their critical roles in tumorigenesis, while also discussing their potential applications in regulating the progression of BC involving clinical diagnosis, prognostication and treatment.

Keywords: biomarker; bladder cancer; clinical diagnosis; exosome; prognostic monitoring.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(A) Characteristics and contents of exosome; (B) biogenesis and secretion of exosomes. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2021, The Authors, published by Springer Nature.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The clinical application prospect of exosomes in bladder cancer. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2021, The Authors, published by Frontiers Media S. A.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The role of exosome‐derived non‐coding RNAs in EMT processes. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2021, The Authors, published by Frontiers Media S. A. EMT epithelial‐mesenchymal transition.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Role of urinary and blood exosome‐derived biomarkers in tumorigenesis at different stages of bladder cancer. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2021, The Authors, published by MDPI.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Biogenesis and potential roles of exosome‐derived noncoding RNAs in bladder cancer. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2021, The Authors, published by Frontiers Media S. A.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Biological properties of non‐coding RNAs. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2021, The Authors, published by Frontiers Media S. A.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Application prospect of exosomes in urological cancer. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2019, The Authors, published by John Wiley and Sons.
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
(A) Structure of exosomes as potential source of tumor biomarkers. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2021, The Authors, published by MDPI. (B) Separation and identification of EVs from urine using a microfluidic system with integrated double‐filtration. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2017, The Authors, published by Springer Nature. (C) Schematic diagram of pollen‐inspired PhC barcode and exosome specific recognition. Reproduced under terms of the CC‐BY license. Copyright 2022, The Authors, published by AAAS. (D) Schematic diagram of the Janus magnetic microspheres for noninvasive analysis of bladder cancer‐derived urinary exosomes. Reproduced with permission. Copyright 2022, ACS. EVs, extracellular vesicles.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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