# Combatting Bladder Cancer by Inducing Epithelial Turnover

> **NIH NIH R21** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $168,894

## Abstract

Abstract
Bladder cancer is the 5th most frequent cancer in the US1. The most common histologic type of bladder cancer
is urothelial carcinoma and it presents often as non-muscle invasive (NMIBC) form. The initial treatment for
NMIBC is transurethral resection (TUR). However, over 70% of these patients will develop tumor recurrence
with 25% showing progression to muscle-invading disease within 5 years of TUR. Currently, intravesicular
BCG-based immunotherapy and chemotherapy are widely used as adjuvant therapies after TUR, but their
effectiveness is limited, due to side effects and/or the inability of therapeutic agents to penetrate the bladder
mucosa. Thus there exists a dire need for new strategies as adjunct therapy for bladder cancer. Recently, the
whole scale exfoliation of the superficial epithelium mediated by the bladder to reduce bacterial numbers
during infection was found to be a specific mast cell (MC) mediated activity. Further it was possible to activate
whole scale exfoliation of the bladder epithelium by merely administering a MC activator in the bladder lumen.
Although a highly efficient re-epithelization program exists for bladder epithelium recovery, addition of a GAG
layer to the exposed bladder wall soon after exfoliation was found to significantly enhance the speed and
intensity of bladder recovery. In view of this ability to trigger rapid turnover of the bladder epithelium, we
hypothesize that safely inducing bladder epithelial turnover is a powerful way to prevent recurrence of bladder
cancer. Here we plan to Investigate if inducing epithelial turnover with MC activators in the bladder will
reduce/eliminate tumors in the bladders of mice. We will also Investigate if administering a GAG matrix
containing growth promoting and/or anti-inflammatory agents will accelerate reepithelization following induced
epithelial loss.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9881267
- **Project number:** 5R21CA223093-02
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Soman N Abraham
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $168,894
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-01 → 2021-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9881267

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9881267, Combatting Bladder Cancer by Inducing Epithelial Turnover (5R21CA223093-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9881267. Licensed CC0.

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