Introduction:
Bladder cancer ranks first in the morbidity of urogenital malignancies in China. Bladder cancers are pathologically classified into 2 subtypes: non-muscle invasion bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). MIBC is a highly lethal tumor and targeted therapies are a promising prospect for the treatment of MIBC. Novel therapeutic targets are still badly needed to combat this disease. Kinesin family member 14 (KIF14) is an engaging molecular motor and is involved in multiple cellular processes such as cell division. Additionally, KIF14 is highly expressed in multiple tumor tissues and participates in the progression of several cancers such as gastric cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, its possible role in the development of bladder cancer remains unclear.

Material and methods:
Herein, 107 cases of MIBC tissue specimens were collected and detected by immunohistochemistry assays, and we analyzed the relationship between AKIF14 expression and clinical features.

Results:
We detected high expression of KIF14 in tumor tissues from patients who underwent MIBC. Furthermore, KIF14 was significantly correlated with clinical features, such as tumor stage (p = 0.001). Then we used the cell line T24 and 5637 of bladder cancer in the experimental group transfected with the shKIF14 plasmid. Our results further confirmed the impairment of proliferation capacity after KIF14 ablation in vitro. KIF14, additionally, promoted tumor growth of MIBC in mice.

Conclusions:
We surmised that KIF14 could serve as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of MIBC.