Inflammatory cytokines in bladder cancer

The presence of inflammatory cells and their products in the tumor microenvironment plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of a tumor. Releasing the cytokines from a host in response to infection and inflammation can inhibit tumor growth and progression. However, tumor cells can also respond to the host cytokines with increasing the growth/invasion/metastasis. Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common cancers in the world. The microenvironment of a bladder tumor has been indicated to be rich in growth factors/inflammatory cytokines that can induce the tumor growth/progression and also suppress the immune system. On the contrary, modulate of the cancer progression has been shown following upregulation of the cytokines-related pathways that suggested the cytokines as potential therapeutic targets. In this study, we provide a summary of cytokines that are involved in BC formation/regression with both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory properties. A more accurate understanding of tumor microenvironment creates favorable conditions for cytokines targeting to treat BC.