Cell Cycle Regulators as Oncogenic Drivers in Bladder Cancer

The cell cycle serves as a means for the regulation of cellular turnover to maintain normal tissue homeostasis. For this reason, genetic changes resulting in dysregulated cell cycle kinetics are implicated in a wide array of human malignancies. The same is true in bladder cancer, where genes important for normal cell cycle function in urothelium are frequently mutated (see Chap. 7 for discussion of stage-specific genetic alterations). One goal of this chapter is to provide a broad overview of the normal cell cycle, including the molecular machinery required for the maintenance of cell cycle kinetics. Using this as a framework, a separate goal is to provide an overview of identified molecular alterations associated with cell cycle regulation and discuss the physiologic impact of these alterations on bladder cancer pathogenesis.