Circadian Rhythm Genes-based Prognostic Signature for Bladder Cancer: Association of EZH2 Expression with Anesthetic-related Changes in Circulating Tumor Cells.

Introduction: Circadian rhythm genes (CRGs) play a significant role in the pathogenesis of various cancers, yet their impact on bladder cancer (BC) remains to be fully elucidated. EZH2, as a potential oncological biomarker, lacks clear delineation regarding its prognostic significance in BC. Furthermore, the effect of anesthesia on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in cancer patients is scarcely studied.

Method: In this study, we developed a bioinformatics signature based on CRGs to assess the prognosis of BC patients and investigated the expression of EZH2 in BC and its correlation with patient outcomes through clinical sample analysis. Furthermore, we collected blood samples from BC patients before anesthesia and two hours post-anesthesia, enriched for CTCs, and analyzed the expression of EZH2 to evaluate the impact of anesthesia on the quantity of CTCs and their EZH2 expression status.

Results: Our prognostic model identified EZH2 as a key determinant of BC prognosis, with the high expression of EZH2 significantly associated with poor patient outcomes. Experimental validation revealed a significant increase in the number of EZH2+ CTCs after anesthesia in BC patients. These findings suggest that anesthesia may facilitate BC metastasis by increasing the number of EZH2+ CTCs.

Discussion: The findings highlight the prognostic value of CRGs and EZH2 in BC, providing new insights into tumor biology and metastasis. Furthermore, this study suggests anesthesia may influence tumor progression by modulating EZH2 expression in CTCs, underscoring the need for careful anesthetic selection in BC patients.

Conclusion: This study unveils the potential value of CRGs and EZH2 in the prognostic assessment of BC and reports for the first time that anesthesia may influence tumor metastasis by modulating the expression of EZH2 in CTCs. These results offer new biomarkers for the prognosis and treatment of BC and provide novel insights into the role of anesthesia in cancer metastasis.