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RNA methylation in urological cancers: regulatory logic, biological functions, and clinical relevance

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Urological malignancies, including prostate, bladder, and renal cancers, remain a major clinical challenge because of tumor heterogeneity, disease progression, and therapeutic resistance. In this context, RNA methylation has emerged as an important post-transcriptional regulatory layer in cancer biology. Importantly, the biological consequences of RNA methylation are not dictated by chemical modifications alone, but by coordinated networks of regulatory proteins that install, remove, and interpret these marks, thereby shaping RNA fate and gene expression programs. Among currently studied RNA modifications, N 6 -methyladenosine (m 6 A) provides the most mature mechanistic framework, whereas non-m 6 A regulators remain comparatively less well characterized. In this review, we systematically summarize the regulatory logic underlying RNA methylation-mediated control in urological cancers, with particular emphasis on how distinct classes of regulatory proteins influence RNA stability, translation, metabolism, and other post-transcriptional processes. We further integrate current evidence across multiple RNA methylation types, including m 6 A, 5-methylcytosine (m 5 C), N 1 -methyladenosine (m 1 A), and N 7 -methylguanosine (m 7 G), while highlighting the relative immaturity of non-m 6 A evidence in these malignancies. We also provide an overview of current m 6 A detection technologies and discuss their methodological strengths, limitations, and appropriate research applications. Beyond mechanistic insights, we discuss the emerging clinical relevance of RNA methylation regulators in urological malignancies, particularly in relation to diagnostic-related evidence, prognostic stratification, immune-related relevance, and treatment-associated adaptation. In addition, we summarize current therapeutic efforts targeting RNA methylation pathways, including small-molecule inhibitors and related translational strategies, while emphasizing their present limitations. Overall, current evidence supports RNA methylation as a biologically important and increasingly translationally relevant framework in urological cancers, but not yet as a clinically mature one.

Source: Frontiers in Immunology

DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1790638