Urothelial carcinomas: a focus on human epidermal receptors signaling

Bladder cancer is a common malignancy and a frequent cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The benefit from current chemotherapy has reached a relative plateau, thus identification of molecular targets for better therapy is a high priority. Human epidermal receptors constitute a family of receptor tyrosine kinases, which appear to be implicated in cellular transformation and can be over-expressed in a variety of solid tumors. There is preclinical and clinical data suggesting the role of EGFR and HER2 in urothelial carcinoma, thus prompting clinical investigation of anti-HER targeted therapies attempting to inhibit HER-induced tumor-promoting signaling. There is significant and dynamic cross-talk between HER and other signaling pathways and the identification of the structure and function of such cellular networks in the setting of urothelial cancer is a complex and difficult task. The development of prognostic and predictive biomarkers is needed in order to improve the personalized management of patients with urothelial cancer.