In vitro studies with HTB-1 and T24 bladder cancer cell lines cocultured with M2-like TAMs, demonstrated that the coculture upregulates the expression of EMT-related genes, such as VEGF, twist, vimentin and NF-κB in bladder cancer cells, leading to increased migratory and tumor sphere generation abilities. The gene discussed is VEGFA; the disease is urinary bladder cancer.