ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oncol.

Sec. Genitourinary Oncology

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1590073

High-grade non-muscle invasive urothelial carcinoma in dogs and humans share specific expression of integrin 51

Provisionally accepted
Massimo  AlfanoMassimo Alfano1*Roberta  LucianòRoberta Lucianò1Maurizio  ColecchiaMaurizio Colecchia1Francesca  SanvitoFrancesca Sanvito1Irene  LocatelliIrene Locatelli1Chiara  VenegoniChiara Venegoni1Alessia  Di CosteAlessia Di Coste1DAVIDE  DANILO ZANIDAVIDE DANILO ZANI2Angelica  StranieriAngelica Stranieri2Chiara  GiudiceChiara Giudice2Antonella  RigilloAntonella Rigillo3Matteo  GambiniMatteo Gambini3Francesco  MontorsiFrancesco Montorsi1Andrea  SaloniaAndrea Salonia1Marco  MoschiniMarco Moschini1
  • 1San Raffaele Hospital (IRCCS), Milan, Italy
  • 2University of Milan, Milan, Lombardy, Italy
  • 3I-Vet srl, Brescia, Lombardy, Italy

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

Objective. Urothelial carcinoma (UC) accounts for more than 90% of all bladder cancers both in humans and dogs. Human and canine UC share many genetic mutations and tumor markers, as well as clinical and therapeutic interventions. The unmet clinical needs are similar such as the early detection and treatment of the high-grade residual disease responsible for tumor recurrence and progression. Aim of this study was to investigate the expression of the 51 integrin and its specificity in high-grade UC in humans and dogs, a marker recently reported in the human bladder in situ carcinoma and murine model of orthotopic bladder cancer.. Expression of integrin α5β1 was established by immunohistochemistry in 67 human bladder samples (four nontumor tissues, ten low-grade, ten intermediate-grade, and forty-three high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, NMIBC) and 12 canine bladder tumor specimens.Results. The 51 integrin was not expressed by urothelial cells in the conditions of inflammatory cystitis, actinic cystitis, benign hyperplasia and low/intermediate grade NMIBC; it was identified as a specific marker expressed only by the malignant cells in the urothelium in 81% of human and all canine high-grade NMIBC.Conclusions. The expression of 51 integrin is a specific marker of high-grade UC located in the urothelium of humans and dogs and might be tested for targeted delivery of contrast agents or drugs. Given the close similarity between high-grade UC in humans and dogs, basic research in the two species and comparative data analysis could strengthen the prospects for rapid development of an improved clinical strategy for the identification and treatment of the small neoplastic lesions responsible for residual high-grade in both species.

Keywords: urothelial cancer, human, dog, integrin, marker

Received: 08 Mar 2025; Accepted: 24 Apr 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Alfano, Lucianò, Colecchia, Sanvito, Locatelli, Venegoni, Di Coste, ZANI, Stranieri, Giudice, Rigillo, Gambini, Montorsi, Salonia and Moschini. 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: Massimo Alfano, San Raffaele Hospital (IRCCS), Milan, Italy

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.