New study uncovers the role of Growth Hormone in bladder cancer

A new study by researchers at 花季传媒鈥檚 Institute for Molecular Medicine and Aging has found that growth hormone (GH), a natural hormone in the body that helps us grow, may also play a role in bladder cancer鈥檚 resistance to treatment and aggressive growth.

Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers in the U.S., and while it's often treatable when caught early, it becomes very difficult to manage once it spreads. This study might bring us one step closer to finding better ways to treat this disease.

The research team, led by John Kopchick, Ph.D., Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar and carried out by Emily Davis, a graduate student in Kopchick鈥檚 laboratory, looked at both real patient data and laboratory experiments to explore how GH affects urothelial carcinoma (UC), the most common type of bladder cancer.

The team found that tumors with higher levels of the GH receptor (GHR), the protein that receives signals from GH, were linked to lower survival rates. 

GH also appears to help cancer cells resist chemotherapy by: increasing the production of what鈥檚 called ABC transporters, which make cancer cells more resistant to chemotherapy drugs; by triggering a process called EMT (epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition), which makes cancer cells more mobile and harder to kill; and by encouraging changes in the tumor's structure, making it easier for the cancer to spread.

The researchers tested a drug called Pegvisomant, which blocks the GH receptor. This drug, discovered by Kopchick, is already approved by the FDA to treat a condition called acromegaly, in which the body makes too much GH. 

In the lab experiments of the study, which was recently published in the , Pegvisomant was able to reverse many of the harmful effects of GH on bladder cancer cells, including their resistance to chemotherapy and their ability to move and invade other tissues.

GH has been linked to cancer development and progression, but the relationship is not consistent across all cancers.  This is the first study to clearly show how growth hormone might be a contributing factor in cases of bladder cancer that resist treatment. 

The study鈥檚 findings show that blocking GH action could be a new way to improve treatments for bladder cancer patients, especially those with advanced disease. Pegvisomant has already shown promise in reducing chemotherapy-related resistance to cancers such as melanoma, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer.

The researchers also found that GH signaling may affect patients differently based on sex and race, highlighting the need for personalized cancer treatments.

鈥淥ur study suggests that growth hormone signaling may be a hidden driver behind bladder cancer鈥檚 resistance to treatment,鈥� said Kopchick, a global authority in endocrinology and oncology. 鈥淎t the same time, we found that an existing drug might help stop this process 鈥� offering hope for new treatment strategies.鈥�