Biological markers in superficial bladder tumors and their prognostic significance

This article reviews the literature on some of the available biomarkers such as p53 and its down-stream effector p21 on superficial bladder tumor biology and their prognostic significance. The role of p53 tumor suppressor gene is controversial in superficial bladder cancer, possibly because analyzing one single effector of a pathway might hide the role of downstream effectors. The aggressiveness of this condition is related to proliferative activity as measured by Ki-67. Further studies are still necessary to draw definitive conclusions about the role of these different biological markers in superficial bladder cancer.