Role of tyrosine kinases in bladder cancer progression: an overview

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer (BCa) is a frequent urothelial malignancy with a high ratio of morbidity and mortality. Various genetic and environmental factors are involved in BCa progression. Since, majority of BCa cases are diagnosed after macroscopic clinical symptoms, it is required to find efficient markers for the early detection. Receptor tyrosine-kinases (RTKs) and non-receptor tyrosine-kinases (nRTKs) have pivotal roles in various cellular processes such as growth, migration, differentiation, and metabolism through different signaling pathways. Tyrosine-kinase deregulations are observed during tumor progressions via mutations, amplification, and chromosomal abnormalities which introduces these factors as important candidates of anti-cancer therapies. MAIN BODY: For the first time in present review we have summarized all of the reported tyrosine-kinases which have been significantly associated with the clinicopathological features of BCa patients. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights the importance of tyrosine-kinases as critical markers in early detection and therapeutic purposes among BCa patients and clarifies the molecular biology of tyrosine-kinases during BCa progression and metastasis.