Removing senescent cells may be a new way to treat bladder cancer, a Japanese study suggests

Researchers at the University of Tokyo and other institutions in Japan have found that a type of senescent cells in bladder tissue can promote the development of bladder cancer, and the removal of this senescent cells can inhibit bladder cancer.

Xinhua reported that the University of Tokyo and other institutions recently jointly issued a press communique said that previous studies have shown that with age, the incidence of bladder cancer will increase and the survival rate will decline, but why bladder cancer will be associated with age, the mechanism behind is not clear.

The research team found that P16-positive senescent cells in bladder tissue may be associated with the development of bladder cancer. In experiments with mice, the researchers found that the development of bladder cancer was inhibited after transplantation of bladder cancer cells in transgenic mice using genetic techniques to induce the death of P16-positive senescent cells, or by giving them drugs to eliminate such cells.

Bladder cancer is often resistant to chemotherapy, and molecular targeted drugs are not effective in all bladder cancers, so bladder cancer is a relatively poor prognosis.

This result is helpful for the development of new drugs targeting P16-positive senescent cells for bladder cancer.

The paper is published in the new issue of the British journal Nature Aging.