Urothelium and bladder cancer development

The urothelium is the epithelial tissue that lines the major portion of the urinary tract; from deep inside the kidney, down the ureters, throughout the bladder and on into the upper urethra. The urothelium is uniquely adapted to life bathed in toxic urine; forming the tightest epithelial barrier in the body and having an unusual responsive, rather than constitutive, programme of cell proliferation and tissue regeneration.

Understanding urothelial tissue-biology is critical because over 90% of bladder cancers arise in the urothelium, causing around 150,000 deaths around the world each year. Bladder cancer is an incredibly diverse disease, with an unusually high number of mutations and a wide range of different “cancer driver” changes. By understanding how healthy urothelial tissue functions, we can better determine how the changes in cancers can be targeted with different cancer therapies. 

Crucially, we also think that bladder cancer is a preventable disease. Whilst smoking is the best known risk factor for bladder cancer, the molecular evidence actually suggests a virus as a key risk factor for the disease, opening the door for truly preventative medicine as has been seen with cervical cancer. 

This research is generously supported by funders including York Against Cancer, Kidney Research UK, The Urology Foundation, Action Bladder Cancer UK, Rosetrees Trust.

Areas of interest

• The origins of bladder cancer - also known as “urothelial carcinogenesis”
• Biologically-informed machine learning for cancer patient stratification - matching patients to a suitable treatment first time
• Oncolytic virus therapies in bladder cancer - using viruses to destroy this viral-caused cancer
• Understanding the mechanisms that drive tumour-induced immune tolerance.
• Urothelial cancers across the urinary tract - what makes bladder cancer different to upper urinary tract cancer