Nano-Dimensional Bladder Tissue Replacement Constructs: An In Vivo Study

摘要

Approximately 400 million people are affected by bladder disease; one of the most common forms is urinary bladder cancer. Superficial cases of bladder cancer are often treated by removal of the cancerous portion of the bladder wall combined with adjuvant intravesical immuno-chemotherapy. This therapy is limited because of local and systemic toxicity of the chemotherapy agents and the high possibility of recurrence and progression of the disease. Therefore, removal of the entire bladder wall is considered to be the most effective approach to stop the progression of this disease and to reduce mortality. In order to restore bladder functionality, this diagnosis and treatment brings an obvious need for bladder replacement implant designs with a high degree of efficacy. Since cells are accustomed to interacting with nanometer surfaces (i.e., like those present in native proteins), the present study hypothesized that bladder tissue should be more readily regenerated on and in nano-structured polymers.