Pharmacological manipulation with 5’-azacitidine to increase Shh expression, resulting in therapeutic activation of stromal Bmp to block bladder tumor initiation through the differentiating of premalignant cells, could have a potentially beneficial impact on the clinical management of human bladder cancer, especially at the early stage of onset or recurrence, which makes this malignancy difficult and more costly to treat than other cancers. The gene discussed is SHH; the disease is urinary bladder neoplasm.