Perspective: Humanized Pig Models of Bladder Cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Translational Medicine
• Animal Models

Background:

• Bladder cancer (BC) is a prevalent malignancy with high recurrence and treatment costs.
• Current animal models (murine, canine) have limitations in size, clinical translatability, and spontaneous occurrence.
• Need for improved biological models to evaluate novel bladder cancer therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the genetic basis of bladder cancer.
• To assess existing bladder cancer animal models and their limitations.
• To propose pigs as a suitable large animal model for humanized bladder cancer research.

Main Methods:

• Review of genetic alterations in human bladder cancer.
• Analysis of limitations in current murine and canine bladder cancer models.
• Proposal for developing genetically defined porcine models mimicking human BC mutations (e.g., FGFR3, PIK3CA, TP53).

Main Results:

• Pigs possess anatomical, physiological, and genetic similarities to humans, suitable for biomedical research.
• Pigs can be utilized to experimentally induce tumors, facilitating the creation of personalized models.
• Genetically defined porcine models can incorporate key human BC driver mutations.

Conclusions:

• Pigs represent a valuable large animal model for developing humanized bladder cancer.
• These models will aid in studying bladder cancer pathology and screening new treatments.
• Development of robust porcine models is crucial for advancing bladder cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.