Shi MM, Guan MY, Li S, Guo JY, Chen XZ, Tang JF, Zhou CF. HOXC6-TIMELESS axis: Unveiling novel therapeutic strategies in bladder cancer. World J Clin Oncol 2025; 16(7): 108071 [DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v16.i7.108071]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ce-Fan Zhou, PhD, Professor, School of Life and Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Research, National “111” Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), Hubei University of Technology, No. 28 Nanli Road, Wuhan 430068, Hubei Province, China. cefan@hbut.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Meng-Meng Shi, Ming-Yue Guan, Shi Li, Jie-Yu Guo, Jing-Feng Tang, Ce-Fan Zhou, School of Life and Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Research, National “111” Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068, Hubei Province, China
Xing-Zhen Chen, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2H7, Canada
Author contributions: Shi MM prepared the original draft; Zhou CF contributed to the conceptualization, writing, review and editing of the manuscript; Shi MM, Li S, Zhou CF and Tang JF collaboratively drafted the manuscript; Guo JY, Chen XZ provided some valuable opinion, and all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by National Key R&D Program of China, No. 2023YFC2507904; Hubei Strategic Science and Technology Talent Plan, No. 2024DJA037; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 32270768, No. 82273970 and No. 82370715; and Innovation Group Project of Hubei Province No. 2023AFA026.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ce-Fan Zhou, PhD, Professor, School of Life and Health Sciences, Institute of Biomedical Research, National “111” Center for Cellular Regulation and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Key Laboratory of Fermentation Engineering (Ministry of Education), Hubei University of Technology, No. 28 Nanli Road, Wuhan 430068, Hubei Province, China. cefan@hbut.edu.cn
Received: April 8, 2025 Revised: April 27, 2025 Accepted: June 11, 2025 Published online: July 24, 2025 Processing time: 109 Days and 6.8 Hours
Abstract
Bladder cancer (BLCA) is a highly invasive malignancy with limited targeted therapies. Lu et al reveal the oncogenic role of HOXC6 in BLCA by showing its elevated mRNA and protein levels in cancerous tissues. Silencing HOXC6 significantly inhibits BLCA cell proliferation, migration and invasion, induces apoptosis and arrests the cell cycle at G0/G1. In addition, HOXC6 also regulates pathways related to chemical carcinogenesis and reactive oxygen species, with a strong association with the target gene TIMELESS, supported by binding signals in its promoter region. Here, we discuss the role of HOXC6 as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target, contributing to a deeper understanding of the HOXC6-TIMELESS axis and its implications for advancing BLCA research and therapy.
Core Tip: The significant correlation between HOXC6 overexpression and bladder cancer (BLCA) progression has led to the establishment of a novel HOXC6-TIMELESS regulatory axis. In this letter, we aim to highlight the HOXC6-TIMELESS axis as a promising molecular target for the diagnosis and treatment of BLCA. Additionally, exploring therapeutic strategies such as RNA-based interventions, or circadian rhythm modulation may offer promising avenues to improve BLCA management and patient prognosis.
