Urological tumors, including prostate cancer and urothelial carcinomas, remain major contributors to global cancer morbidity and mortality. Despite recent therapeutic advancements, managing advanced or metastatic genitourinary malignancies continues to pose a significant clinical challenge due to intra-tumor heterogeneity and therapeutic resistance. Resolving these challenges requires a deeper understanding of underlying molecular regulation, such as genetic alterations, transcriptional anomalies, and post-translational modifications that drive tumorigenesis and immune evasion. Concurrently, novel immunotherapies, particularly immune checkpoint inhibitors and cell-based strategies like CAR-T/NK cell therapies, offer promising avenues but suffer from variable patient response rates. Unraveling the molecular pathways that dictate these immune responses is vital to developing synergistic, targeted treatment combinations. Furthermore, translating these therapeutic innovations into clinical practice necessitates real-time, patient-centric monitoring. Conventional tissue biopsies are hindered by systemic risks and sampling limitations. Consequently, there is an urgent need to validate robust, non-invasive biomarkers, including circulating tumor DNA, non-coding RNAs, and exosomes to facilitate early detection, precise risk stratification, and dynamic monitoring of treatment efficacy in urological oncology.
The primary goal of this Research Topic is to bridge the critical gap between bench-side molecular discoveries and clinical translation in urological oncology. We aim to assemble a comprehensive collection of high-quality, innovative research that elucidates how complex molecular regulation shapes tumor biology and influences response to novel immunotherapies. By decoding these underlying mechanisms, this collection seeks to foster the development of next-generation therapeutic combinations, such as identifying molecular targets that can sensitize resistant prostate cancer and urothelial carcinomas to cellular or checkpoint-based immunotherapies. Additionally, this Research Topic aims to accelerate the discovery, validation, and clinical integration of robust, non-invasive biomarkers. Ultimately, we intend to provide a collaborative platform for oncologists, molecular biologists, and translational researchers to share insights that will refine risk stratification, enable real-time treatment monitoring, and advance precision medicine for patients with urological tumors.
We welcome submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes: • Novel diagnostic biomarkers, including non-invasive liquid biopsies and advanced diagnostics for prostate cancer and urothelial carcinomas. • Molecular regulation mechanisms, including transcriptional pathways, epigenetic modifications, and non-coding RNA networks driving the progression of urological malignancies. • Innovative therapeutic strategies for prostate cancer and urothelial carcinomas, particularly novel immunotherapies, adoptive cell therapies (such as CAR-T and CAR-NK cells), and targeted therapies. • Mechanisms of treatment resistance, especially approaches targeting the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment to overcome resistance in advanced stages (e.g., CRPC).
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This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
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Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
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