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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Cancer Molecular Targets and Therapeutics

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1578695

This article is part of the Research TopicBiomarker Discovery and Therapeutic Innovations in Genito-Urinary Cancer ManagementView all 13 articles

Prognostic value and molecular mechanism of photodynamic therapy and apoptosis related gene FGFR1 in bladder cancer

Provisionally accepted
Lei  WangLei Wang1Yanchun  WangYanchun Wang2Yanqing  WangYanqing Wang2Zhengwei  WangZhengwei Wang2Guangzhou  ChengGuangzhou Cheng2Zhunan  XuZhunan Xu1Xiaoqiang  LiuXiaoqiang Liu1*
  • 1Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
  • 2Tengzhou City Center People's Hospital, Zaozhuang, Shandong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Purpose: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an innovative non-invasive therapy for human cancer treatment. The significance of apoptosis-related genes (ARGs) in the prognosis of bladder cancer (BLCA) has gradually emerged. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the prognostic significance and pathogenesis of PDT related genes (PDTRGs)-ARGs in BLCA cases.Based on the BLCA data in TCGA, PDTRGs-ARGs with prognostic value in BLCA patients were screened. Subsequently, the prognostic value and diagnostic performance of all candidate genes were evaluated by univariate Cox regression analysis and ROC curves. Then, GSEA, GSVA and immune microenvironment analysis were conducted based on candidate genes. Finally, the molecular mechanisms of key candidate genes in BLCA patients were initially explored by qRT-PCR, CCK-8 analysis, Transwell Assay and Western Blotting.Results: A total of 5 ARGs-PDTRGs (EMP1, FGFR1, PLPPR4, JUN, TNFRSF25) were screened as prognostic biomarkers for BLCA. Survival analysis revealed significant differences in overall survival of the five prognostic biomarkers in the high/low expression groups. ROC curve analysis revealed that the five prognostic biomarkers had strong prognostic predictive ability. QRT-PCR proved that the expression of EMP1, FGFR1, PLPPR4 and JUN was obviously reduced, while TNFRSF25 was markedly increased in BLCA tissue samples and cell lines. The following research confirmed that FGFR1 inhibited the biological process of T24 cells by activating cGMP-PKG pathway.Five ARGs-PDTRGs (EMP1, FGFR1, PLPPR4, JUN, TNFRSF25) were screened as prognostic biomarkers for BLCA. Among them, FGFR1 inhibits the biological process of T24 cells via activating cGMP-PKG pathway.

Keywords: Bladder cancer (blca), Photodynamic therapy (PDT), Apoptosis, FGFR1, prognostic

Received: 18 Feb 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wang, Wang, Wang, Cheng, Xu and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Xiaoqiang Liu, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052, China

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