Metastatic Bladder Cancer: Second-Line Treatment and Recommendations of the Genitourinary Tumor Division of the Galician Oncologic Society (SOG-GU)

Once metastatic bladder cancer has progressed to first-line treatment, the number of therapeutic options is scarce. Among chemotherapeutic agents showing activity in phase II trials, including taxanes, vinflunine (VFL) is the only one shown to increase overall survival in a phase III trial. In addition to its efficacy, VFL is safe in special population groups. Despite this, the prognosis for these patients remains poor, and more effective therapies need to be developed. Agents acting on new therapeutic targets as well as biomarkers to aid matching patients to specific treatments are currently under evaluation. In this regard, immunotherapy is showing promising results. In this article, a critical review of current treatments and future prospects is made, and therapy recommendations are made based on existing scientific evidence.

Current oncology reports. 2016 Dec [Epub]

Jorge García, Lucia Santomé, Urbano Anido, Ovidio Fernández-Calvo, Javier Afonso-Afonso, Martín Lázaro, Ana Medina, Sergio Vázquez Estévez

Department of Oncology, Santiago University Hospital, Santiago, Spain., Department of Oncology, POVISA Hospital, Vigo, Spain., Department of Oncology, Ourense University Hospital, Ourense, Spain., Department of Oncology, Ferrol University Hospital, Ferrol, Spain., Department of Oncology, Álvaro Cunqueiro Hospital, Vigo, Spain., Department of Oncology, Galicia Oncology Center, A Coruña, Spain., Department of Oncology, Lucus Augusti University Hospital, Lugo, Spain. .