Researchers from the Uppsala University have developed a new mouse model that can be used to study the factors that contribute to the progression of immune-system activation and bladder cancer in humans as the tumor grows. Through this model, the researchers have learned how proteins change prior to, during and after tumor development in the bladder wall. Their findings were published in the “PLOS ONE” journal.
The study’s principal investigator Sara Mangsbo stated that the model was designed to demonstrate the harmful mutations observed in bladder cancer patients and to contain mutations that drive tumor growth, known as specific oncogenes. She explained that the mutations emerged as a result of smoking, which is the biggest risk factor for bladder cancer, adding that in this way, the model imitated how this type of cancer developed in humans.
The researchers faced some challenges in the creation of the mouse model. These challenges included how to grow the tumor at a specific site as well as how to produce an organism with an immune system that functioned like the human immune system. Prior models and studies had used female mice as mice models for bladder cancer, which doesn’t reflect fully what the ailment is like as men have a threefold chance of developing this type of cancer in comparison with women.
In contrast, this new model can be used to study how tumors develop in both males and females and how they respond to different treatments, as both sexes have been investigated. The researchers used the model to closely examine the substances secreted from the immune cell/tumor area in the urine and blood, known as the proteomic profile. They examined more than 90 proteins in a bid to discover how those proteins changed as the tumor developed and after the ailment had infiltrated the muscle layer.
This research allowed the researchers to obtain an idea of how the surrounding tissue and the cancer cells interacted and the types of immune cells that were being activated. They also observed clear gender differences in how the sexes responded to immunotherapy and observed the type of bladder cancer that developed in the early stages of the ailment.
Immunotherapy is a treatment form that is used to activate the immune system to fight tumors.
Mangsbo noted that they were now focused on their project’s next phase, which would involve finding and understanding the types of immune cells that could infiltrate tumors.
The study was financed by the European Social Fund, the Swedish Society for Medical Research and the Swedish Cancer Society.
If this model eventually results in improvements in bladder cancer care, it will be a welcome addition to the other advancements, such as the development of superior bladder cancer imaging technology by companies such as Imagin Medical Inc. (CSE: IME) (OTCQB: IMEXF).
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Imagin Medical Inc. (CSE: IME) (OTCQB: IMEXF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/IMEXF
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