RESUMO
BACKGROUND/AIM: Since androgens affect urothelial bladder cancer (UBC), we examined whether 5α-reductases (5-AR) have genomic alterations in UBC and whether 5α-reductase inhibitors (5-ARI) affect UBC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cBioPortal was used to analyze genomic alternations of 5-ARs in UBC cancer genomic datasets. Next, we used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research database to conduct a population-based case-control study to investigate the effect of a 5-ARI, finasteride on UBC incidence. We also performed an XTT assay to examine the direct effect of finasteride on UBC cells. RESULTS: We found that 5-AR genomic alternations were observed in 29% of UBC patients and patients with alternations had shorter disease-free survival. Also, the use of finasteride with >180 cDDDs reduced the risk of UBC. Finasteride could directly inhibit UBC cell growth. CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, we concluded that 5-AR could be explored as a therapeutic target for UBC with 5-ARIs.
