{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T02:59:35Z","timestamp":1771037975040,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,5]],"date-time":"2023-01-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1672876800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PTDC\/EME-APL\/1342\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PTDC\/EME-APL\/1342\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cancers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Bladder cancer (BlCa), specifically urothelial carcinomas, is a heterogeneous disease that derives from the urothelial lining. Two main classes of BlCa are acknowledged: the non-muscle invasive BlCa and the muscle-invasive BlCa; the latter constituting an aggressive disease which invades locally and metastasizes systemically. Distinguishing the specific microenvironment that cancer cells experience between mucosa and muscularis propria layers can help elucidate how these cells acquire invasive capacities. In this work, we propose to measure the micromechanical properties of both mucosa and muscularis propria layers of the bladder wall of BlCa patients, using atomic force microscopy (AFM). To do that, two cross-sections of both the macroscopically normal urinary bladder wall and the bladder wall adjacent to the tumor were collected and immediately frozen, prior to AFM samples analysis. The respective \u201ctwin\u201d formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue fragments were processed and later evaluated for histopathological examination. H&amp;E staining suggested that tumors promoted the development of muscle-like structures in the mucosa surrounding the neoplastic region. The average Young\u2019s modulus (cell stiffness) in tumor-adjacent specimens was significantly higher in the muscularis propria than in the mucosa. Similarly, the tumor-free specimens had significantly higher Young\u2019s moduli in the muscularis propria than in the urothelium. Young\u2019s moduli were higher in all layers of tumor-adjacent tissues when compared with tumor-free samples. Here we provide insights into the stiffness of the bladder wall layers, and we show that the presence of tumor in the surrounding mucosa leads to an alteration of its smooth muscle content. The quantitative assessment of stiffness range here presented provides essential data for future research on BlCa and for understanding how the biomechanical stimuli can modulate cancer cells\u2019 capacity to invade through the different bladder layers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers15020359","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,6]],"date-time":"2023-01-06T02:20:30Z","timestamp":1672971630000},"page":"359","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Bladder Wall Stiffness after Cystectomy in Bladder Cancer Patients: A Preliminary Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2193-2793","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sara","family":"Monteiro-Reis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (INEGI), 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)\/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4310-2915","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o P. S.","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (INEGI), 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP), 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9197-0138","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ricardo A.","family":"Pires","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"3B\u2019s Research Group, I3Bs\u2014Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, 4805-017 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"},{"name":"ICVS\/3B\u2019s\u2014PT Government Associate Laboratory, 4805-017 Braga\/Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6829-1391","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Lobo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)\/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Pathology, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto, Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Jo\u00e3o A.","family":"Carvalho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)\/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Urology, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4295-6129","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui L.","family":"Reis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"3B\u2019s Research Group, I3Bs\u2014Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, 4805-017 Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"},{"name":"ICVS\/3B\u2019s\u2014PT Government Associate Laboratory, 4805-017 Braga\/Guimar\u00e3es, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Renato Natal","family":"Jorge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (INEGI), 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (FEUP), 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4186-5345","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carmen","family":"Jer\u00f3nimo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cancer Biology and Epigenetics Group, Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP)\/RISE@CI-IPOP (Health Research Network), Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO Porto), Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (Porto.CCC), 4200-072 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto (ICBAS-UP), 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"96","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eururo.2016.06.010","article-title":"Bladder Cancer Incidence and Mortality: A Global Overview and Recent Trends","volume":"71","author":"Antoni","year":"2017","journal-title":"Eur. 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