Bladder Cancer

In this interview we discuss the latest clinical news in urothelial carcinoma, what we’ve learned about the biology of these tumors, and how treatment of this disease has evolved.

Though it is used infrequently, lymph node dissection with higher yield of lymph nodes is associated with lower all-cause mortality among patients with urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract who undergo nephroureterectomy.

The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab yielded significantly improved overall survival vs chemotherapy as second-line treatment in advanced urothelial cancer.

We spoke with Dr. Monika Joshi on the use of radiation therapy and durvalumab in patients with locally advanced bladder cancer.

The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab showed promising antitumor activity and acceptable safety in patients with advanced urothelial cancer, in a phase I trial.

In patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma, adjuvant chemotherapy following radical nephroureterectomy confers a survival advantage compared with observation following radical nephroureterectomy.

The FDA has concluded that pioglitazone, used to treat type 2 diabetes, may be linked to an increased risk of bladder cancer.

The US Food and Drug Administration has accepted the first Biologics License Application for durvalumab (MEDI4736) to treat patients with urothelial cancer (UC) for whom cisplatin failed to stop disease progression.

The immune checkpoint antibody pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck) improved survival in previously treated advanced urothelial cancer compared to chemotherapy, according to the manufacturer of the immunotherapy.

New immunotherapies that target PD-1 are now showing promise for first-line and second-line treatment of metastatic bladder cancer.

The gene known as β-Klotho (KLβ) appears to play an important role in tumor invasion and progression in patients with bladder cancer, and urine KLβ levels may act as a useful biomarker, according to a new study.

Investigators at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and Yale University are now reporting in the journal Cancer Cell on a new understanding of the cancer suppressing gene RhoDGI2 and how it may be involved in metastatic bladder cancer.

Patients with non-urothelial bladder cancer are more commonly upstaged during surgery compared with urothelial cancers.

A small genomic study of patients with chemoradiation-treated urothelial carcinoma of the bladder found similar mutation patterns between primary and recurrent tumors.

A novel urine-based DNA test was effective at detecting bladder cancer, and in particular at identifying patients with gross hematuria who do not require cystoscopy.

New NCCN guidelines regarding genomic profiling will likely yield important opportunities to improve the care of patients with advanced bladder cancer.

In this peer-to-peer discussion Dr. Grivas and Dr. Palmbos examine the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in bladder cancer and weigh the various trial data guiding these treatment decisions.

More research is needed to define the optimal radiotherapy and chemotherapy regimen for male urethral carcinoma. However, modern chemoradiation is a feasible treatment option for motivated men with urethral carcinoma who want to preserve their organs.

This article will review select novel targets and approaches relevant to urothelial cancer.

Since the development of first-line cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy with methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin almost 3 decades ago, there have not been major advances in the treatment of this disease.

After a thorough repeat TURBT, disease control can be achieved with intravesical BCG and a bladder-sparing approach.

Patients with T1 bladder cancer on re-resection achieve the best possible survival benefit by IRC and thorough pelvic lymph node dissection.

Nivolumab is safe and effective in patients with metastatic bladder cancer refractory to prior lines of platinum-based chemotherapy, according to findings from the open-label, phase I/II CheckMate 032 trial.

Results of the IMvigor210 clinical trial found that atezolizumab is effective in patients with locally advanced or metastatic cisplatin-ineligible urothelial carcinoma.

The higher incidence of bladder cancer in the Northeast in the last 50 years may be attributed to the presence of arsenic in the drinking water, according to a new study.