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  • FDA ALERT: RE: Label Updates in Clinical Trials for Some Patients Taking Pembrolizumab or Atezolizumab as Monotherapy to Treat Urothelial Cancer with Low Expression of PD-L1

    San Francisco, CA USA (UroToday.com) FDA Update: The FDA is restricting the use of Keytruda and Tecentriq for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who are not eligible for cisplatin-containing therapy.

    This results from decreased survival associated with the use of Keytruda (pembrolizumab) or Tecentriq (atezolizumab) as single therapy (monotherapy) compared to platinum-based chemotherapy in clinical trials to treat patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who have not received prior therapy and who have low expression of the protein programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1).
    Published June 22, 2018

  • FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Erdafitinib in the Treatment of Metastatic Urothelial Cancer

    TRUCKEE, CA (UroToday.com) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for erdafitinib in the treatment of urothelial cancer. Urothelial cancer, most frequently in the bladder, is the sixth most common type of cancer in the U.S. A Breakthrough Therapy Designation is granted to expedite the development and regulatory review of an investigational medicine that is intended to treat a serious or life-threatening condition.  The criteria for Breakthrough Therapy Designation require preliminary clinical evidence that demonstrates the drug may have substantial improvement on at least one clinically significant endpoint over available therapy.
    Published March 16, 2018

  • TURBT More Important Than Ever

    Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) will account for 75% of the 79,000 new cases of bladder cancer expected to be diagnosed in 2017. Fortunately, most cases can be successfully treated and carry a relatively good prognosis. However, depending on the grade and stage at initial diagnosis, as many as 60% of patients with NMIBC can experience orthotopic tumor recurrence within the first year after initial resection and up to 78% can recur within five years. 
    Published April 20, 2017

  • [Concurrent renal cell carcinoma and urothelial carcinoma: long-term follow-up study of 24 cases].

    Objective: To investigate the clinical manifestation, diagnosis, treatment and outcome of simultaneous occurrence of renal cell carcinoma and urothelial carcinoma. Methods: Twenty-four consecutive patients with synchronous renal cell carcinoma and urothelial carcinoma treated in our center from March 2005 to December 2015 were retrospectively reviewed.
    Published April 4, 2017

  • A Care Bundle to Improve Perioperative Mitomycin Use in Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer – Beyond the Abstract

    There is good quality evidence that instillation of a chemotherapeutic agent such as mitomycin into the bladder within twenty-four hours of an initial transurethral bladder tumour resection reduces the rate of recurrences and prolongs recurrence-free intervals in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Most guideline panels recommend this practice. However, despite this evidence and recommendations, there is considerable disparity in the actual use of intravesical chemotherapy amongst urologists. The reasons are manifold and include lack of awareness of the benefits, non-availability of the drug, delay in procurement from pharmacies, fear of side effects and complications, reimbursement issues and wariness of deep resections leading to extravasation.
    Published April 16, 2018

  • A Golden Age of Bladder Cancer Drug Development

    Recent years have seen an explosive rate of transformative advances in both pre-clinical and clinical urothelial carcinoma research.  With the public dissemination of comprehensive molecular data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) urothelial carcinoma cohort, the global urothelial carcinoma research community now has the initial road map of the key biological themes that drive carcinogenesis, growth, invasion, and metastasis.1 
    Written by: Noah M. Hahn, MD
    References:
    1. Comprehensive molecular characterization of urothelial bladder carcinoma. Nature 507:315-22, 2014
    2. Bellmunt J, de Wit R, Vaughn DJ, et al: Pembrolizumab as Second-Line Therapy for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma. N Engl J Med 376:1015-1026, 2017
    3. Patel MR, Ellerton J, Infante JR, et al: Avelumab in metastatic urothelial carcinoma after platinum failure (JAVELIN Solid Tumor): pooled results from two expansion cohorts of an open-label, phase 1 trial. Lancet Oncol 19:51-64, 2018
    4. Powles T, O'Donnell PH, Massard C, et al: Efficacy and safety of durvalumab in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma: Updated results from a phase 1/2 open-label study. JAMA Oncology 3:e172411, 2017
    5. Rosenberg JE, Hoffman-Censits J, Powles T, et al: Atezolizumab in patients with locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have progressed following treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy: a single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 trial. The Lancet 387:1909-1920, 2016
    6. Sharma P, Retz M, Siefker-Radtke A, et al: Nivolumab in metastatic urothelial carcinoma after platinum therapy (CheckMate 275): a multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 trial. The Lancet Oncology 18:312-322, 2017
    7. Rosenberg JE, Sridhar SS, Zhang J, et al: Updated results from the enfortumab vedotin phase 1 (EV-101) study in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC). Journal of Clinical Oncology 36:4504-4504, 2018
    8. Siefker-Radtke AO, Necchi A, Park SH, et al: First results from the primary analysis population of the phase 2 study of erdafitinib (ERDA; JNJ-42756493) in patients (pts) with metastatic or unresectable urothelial carcinoma (mUC) and FGFR alterations (FGFRalt). J Clin Oncol 36, 2018
    Published July 12, 2019

  • A Phase I Study of Enfortumab Vedotin in Japanese Patients with Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma - Expert Commentary

    Enfortumab Vedotin (EV) is a novel antibody-drug conjugate targeting Nectin-4, which is overexpressed in urothelial cancer. A recent study published by Takahashi et al. in Investigational New Drugs studied EV in locally advanced/metastatic urothelial cancer in a phase I study (NCT03070990).1 The researchers included patients who were diagnosed with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma and were cisplatin-ineligible or failed at least one chemotherapy treatment. Nine patients were randomly assigned to Arm A to receive EV at 1.0 mg/kg, and eight patients were assigned to Arm B to receive EV at 1.25 mg/kg on days 1, 8, and 15 of 28-day cycles.
    Published January 6, 2020

  • A Prognostic Nomogram for Patients with Intravesical Recurrence After Radical Nephroureterectomy for Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma - Expert Commentary

    Defining the prognosis of patients who develop intravesical recurrence (IVR) after radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) is critical for the optimal management of these patients. A recent study published by Hou et al. in the World Journal of Urologyexamined the independent prognostic factors and constructed a nomogram to predict the 1-, 3-, and 5-year probability of individual cancer-specific survival (CSS).
    Published March 2, 2020

  • A Randomized Phase II Trial of Vinflunine and Gemcitabine Versus Carboplatin and Gemcitabine in Cisplatin-Ineligible Patients with Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma - Expert Commentary

    A significant number of patients with locally advanced and metastatic urothelial cancer (aUC) are not eligible for cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
    Published January 16, 2020

  • A Urine-Based Methylation Test for Bladder Cancer — Expert Commentary

    Early identification of bladder cancer (BC) is critical for improving clinical outcomes. Developing urine-based molecular biomarkers is an area of active research. A recent study published in Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations described a urine-based methylation analysis of TWIST1, NID2, RUNX3, GATA4, and FOXE1 in urinary cell pellet DNA as a biomarker.
    Published June 23, 2020

  • Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients with Urothelial Carcinoma and Adverse Pathologic Features Receiving Prior Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Radical Cystectomy - Expert Commentary

    Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a standard of care for patients with cisplatin-eligible muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma. For patients who do not receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy, there is evidence of a benefit associated with cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy after radical cystectomy for patients with pT3/T4 and/or pN+ bladder cancer. It is unknown whether additional adjuvant chemotherapy is beneficial for patients with adverse pathological features after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radical cystectomy. 
    Published September 2, 2017

  • ASCO 2020: JAVELIN Bladder 100 Phase III Results: Maintenance Avelumab + Best Supportive Case vs BSC Alone After Platinum-Based First-Line Chemotherapy in Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma

    (UroToday.com) Advanced urothelial carcinoma resulted in over 200,000 deaths across the world in 2018. Though the majority of patients eligible for such therapy respond to platinum-based chemotherapy, disease progression occurs relatively quickly and a half or less of patients receive second-line treatment. Though PD-L1/PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) agents are standard 2nd-line therapy for disease progression after platinum, not all patients receive this therapy and only a minority of patients have a durable clinical benefit. Avelumab, an antibody against PD-L1, is approved in the second-line post-platinum treatment setting.
    Published May 31, 2020

  • ASCO GU 2018: Lessons Learned From New Guidelines and How They Have Changed Management of Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

    San Francisco, CA (UroToday.com)  Dr. Holzbeierlein began his discussion on the new muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) guidelines,1 a collaborative multi-disciplinary effort led by Dr. Sam Chang that involved input from all the major organizations, including AUA, ASCO, ASTRO, and patient advocates. The final analysis was built on prior work by Dr. Chou’s AHRQ systematic reviews (through 2015).
    Published February 10, 2018

  • ASCO GU 2019: Genomic Insights and Biomarkers for Treatment Selection in Muscle-Invasive and Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

    San Francisco, CA (UroToday.com) Dr. Yair Lotan presented on Genomic Insights and Biomarkers for Treatment Selection in Muscle-Invasive and Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer. He discussed the role of markers in bladder cancer and how they add independent information that can impact patient care. The markers can either be prognostic which provide information about patient’s overall cancer outcome, regardless of therapy, or predictive markers that provide information about the effect of the therapeutic intervention and can be a target for therapy.
    Published February 15, 2019

  • ASCO GU 2019: Multimodality Treatment in Challenging Cases of Urothelial Carcinoma: Case Panel Discussion

    San Francisco, CA (UroToday.com) In this case panel discussion, 3 patient cases were reviewed highlighting important points in the management of bladder cancer. The text below includes a summary of each case presented and key points made by the panelists.

    Case 1: Small Cell Bladder Cancer: 65-year-old man who presents feeling lethargic, 10 lb weight loss, poor appetite. He has microscopic hematuria. Cystoscopy and subsequent TURBT demonstrates small cell bladder cancer.
    Published February 16, 2019

  • ASCO GU 2019: PIVOT-02 Study of NKTR-214 with Nivolumab in Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

    San Francisco, CA (UroToday.com) Immune checkpoint inhibitors are approved both in the first line and second line for patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma. In the first line, KEYNOTE 052 showed that pembrolizumab has significant anti-tumor activity for cisplatin ineligible patients with UC1, for a 38% objective response rate for patients with a combined positive score of 10% or more (PD-L1 positive). Further analysis last year found that the benefit to checkpoint inhibition in the first line was restricted to patients with a high PD-L1 expression, as defined by CPS≥10 or PD-L1 IC ≥5%. In the second line, KEYNOTE 045 improved median overall survival compared with chemo (10.3 v 7.4 months; HR, 0.70; P < 0.001)2.
    Published February 20, 2019

  • ASCO GU 2019: Sacituzumab Govitecan (IMMU-132) in Patients with Previously Treated Metastatic Urothelial Cancer

    San Francisco, CA (UroToday.com) Sacituzumab govitecan (SG) is a humanized antibody-drug conjugate, made from anti-Trop-2 monoclonal antibody linked with SN-38, the active metabolite of irinotecan.1 Trop-2 is transmembrane glycoprotein encoded by the Tacstd2 gene, and is differentially expressed in a wide range of tumor types, including gastric, pancreatic, triple-negative breast, colonic, prostate, and lung cancer.2 In hormone-receptor positive (HR+)/HER2- metastatic breast cancer (mBC), the overall response rate was 31% by local assessment, and the clinical benefit rate (PR+SD > 6 months) was 48%.3 In an early phase study with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, 47 patients were treated and the objective response rate was 19% with a median response duration of 6.0 months.4
    Published February 16, 2019

  • ASCO GU 2020: Safety and Efficacy of Nadofaragene Firadenovec (Instiladrin), an Intravesical Gene Therapy for the Treatment of High-grade BCG Unresponsive NMIBC

    San Francisco, California (UroToday.com) For patients with BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, the standard of care for patients who are operative candidates is a radical cystectomy. However, not all patients may be cystectomy candidates, often for a multitude of reasons, including coexisting comorbidities as well as personal considerations and quality of life.1 Thus, there is an unmet need in this space for better local or systemic therapies which may prevent progression of bladder cancer to muscle-invasive or metastatic disease.
    Published February 14, 2020

  • Atezolizumab as first-line treatment in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma: a single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 trial

    Background: First-line chemotherapy for patients with cisplatin-ineligible locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma is associated with short response duration, poor survival, and high toxicity. This study assessed
    atezolizumab (anti-programmed death-ligand 1 [PD-L1]) as treatment for metastatic urothelial cancer in cisplatinineligible patients.

    Methods: For this single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 study, in 47 academic medical centres and community oncology practices in seven countries in North America and Europe, we recruited previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who were cisplatin ineligible. Patients were given 1200 mg intravenous atezolizumab every 21 days until progression. The primary endpoint was independently confi rmed objective response rate per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 (central review), assessed in prespecifi ed subgroups based on PD-L1 expression and in all patients. All participants who received one or more doses of atezolizumab were included in the primary and safety analyses. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02108652.

    Findings: Between June 9, 2014, and March 30, 2015, we enrolled 123 patients, of whom 119 received one or more doses of atezolizumab. At 17·2 months’ median follow-up, the objective response rate was 23% (95% CI 16 to 31), the complete response rate was 9% (n=11), and 19 of 27 responses were ongoing. Median response duration was not reached. Responses occurred across all PD-L1 and poor prognostic factor subgroups. Median progression-free survival was 2·7 months (2·1 to 4·2). Median overall survival was 15·9 months (10·4 to not estimable). Tumour mutation load was associated with response. Treatment-related adverse events that occurred in 10% or more of patients were fatigue (36 [30%] patients), diarrhoea (14 [12%] patients), and pruritus (13 [11%] patients). One treatment-related death (sepsis) occurred. Nine (8%) patients had an adverse event leading to treatment discontinuation. Immune-mediated events occurred in 14 (12%) patients.

    Interpretation: Atezolizumab showed encouraging durable response rates, survival, and tolerability, supporting its therapeutic use in untreated metastatic urothelial cancer.

    Funding: F Hoff mann-La Roche, Genentech.

    Authors: Arjun V Balar, Matthew D Galsky, Jonathan E Rosenberg, Thomas Powles, Daniel P Petrylak, Joaquim Bellmunt, Yohann Loriot, Andrea Necchi, Jean Hoffman-Censits, Jose Luis Perez-Gracia, Nancy A Dawson, Michiel S van der Heijden, Robert Dreicer, Sandy Srinivas, Margitta M Retz, Richard W Joseph, Alexandra Drakaki, Ulka N Vaishampayan, Srikala S Sridhar, David I Quinn, Ignacio Durán, David R Shaff er, Bernhard J Eigl, Petros D Grivas, Evan Y Yu, Shi Li, Edward E Kadel III, Zachary Boyd, Richard Bourgon, Priti S Hegde, Sanjeev Mariathasan, AnnChristine Thåström, Oyewale O Abidoye, Gregg D Fine, Dean F Bajorin, for the IMvigor210 Study Group*

    Go "Beyond the Abstract" - Read an article written by the authors for UroToday.com

    Author Affiliations: Genitourinary Cancers Program, Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA (A V Balar MD); The Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA (M D Galsky MD); Genitourinary Oncology Service, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA (J E Rosenberg MD, D F Bajorin MD); Barts Cancer Institute ECMC, Barts Health and the Royal Free NHS Trust, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK (T Powles MD); Smilow Cancer Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA (D P Petrylak MD); Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA (J Bellmunt MD); Département de médecine oncologique, Université Paris-Saclay and Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France (Y Loriot MD); Department of Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy (A Necchi MD); Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, Philadelphia, PA, USA (J Hoffman-Censits MD); Department of Oncology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Navarre, Spain (J L Perez-Gracia MD); MedstarGeorgetown University Hospital, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC, USA (N A Dawson MD); Department of Medical Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands (M S van der Heijden MD); Division of Hematology/ Oncology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA (R Dreicer MD); Division of Oncology/Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA (S Srinivas MD); Department of Urology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany (M M Retz MD); Department of Hematology/Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA (R W Joseph MD); Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology and Institute of Urologic Oncology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA (A Drakaki MD); Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA (U N Vaishampayan MD); Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Cancer Center, Toronto, ON, Canada (S S Sridhar MD); University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA (D I Quinn MD); Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío and Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, Seville, Spain (I Durán MD); New York Oncology Hematology, Albany, NY, USA (D R Shaffer MD); British Columbia Cancer Agency, British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (B J Eigl MD); Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA (P D Grivas MD); Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington and Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA (E Y Yu MD); and Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA (S Li PhD, E E Kadel III BS,Z Boyd MSc, R Bourgon PhD, P S Hegde PhD, S Mariathasan PhD, AC Thåström PhD, O O Abidoye MD, G D Fine MD)

    Published Online December 7, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(16)32455-2
    Published March 7, 2017

  • Atezolizumab as First-line Treatment in Cisplatin-ineligible Patients with Locally Advanced and Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma: A Single-arm, Multicentre, Phase 2 Trial

    BACKGROUND: First-line chemotherapy for patients with cisplatin-ineligible locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma is associated with short response duration, poor survival, and high toxicity. This study assessed atezolizumab (anti-programmed death-ligand 1 [PD-L1]) as treatment for metastatic urothelial cancer in cisplatin-ineligible patients.

    METHODS: For this single-arm, multicentre, phase 2 study, in 47 academic medical centres and community oncology practices in seven countries in North America and Europe, we recruited previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who were cisplatin ineligible.
    Published December 12, 2018

  • AUA 2020: Surgical Techniques: Tips & Tricks: Oncology: Bladder Cancer Blue Light Cystoscopy

    (UroToday.com) At the American Urological Association (AUA) 2020 Virtual annual meeting, Dr. Anne Schuckman discussed blue light cystoscopy for bladder cancer and several of her tips and tricks. Dr. Schuckman notes that there are over 75,000 new bladder cancer diagnoses per year, leading to more than 15,000 deaths. The prevalence of bladder cancer is >550,000 cases, making it the highest per capita treatment cost due to recurrent disease and multiple recurrences.
    Published June 28, 2020

  • BCG Immunotherapy Versus Radical Cystectomy in Intermediate or High-Risk Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer Patients - Expert Commentary

    Treatment options available for intermediate or high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer include intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and radical cystectomy.
    Published February 5, 2020

  • BCG-Unresponsive Nonmuscle Invasive Bladder Cancer: Developing Drugs and Biologics for Treatment Guidance for Industry

    Introduction 
    The purpose of this guidance is to assist sponsors in the development of drugs, including biologics, for the treatment of patients who have bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). This guidance is intended for pharmaceutical sponsors, the academic community, and the public and provides a framework, based on current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) thinking, to facilitate the development of drugs to treat this patient population. This guidance discusses pathological diagnosis and staging, risk stratification, and trial design, including assessment of appropriate clinical endpoints. These issues were discussed at the FDA/American Urological Association Bladder Cancer Workshop held on May 6, 2013, and in published literature. 2,3 
    Published September 27, 2018

  • Beyond Bladder Cancer: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Vaccination Revisited as a Strategy to Reduce COVID-19 Related Adverse Events in High Risk Health Care Workers and the Elderly

    First Published April 2, 2020

    The ongoing pandemic involving severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its resulting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused widespread infection worldwide, with over 660,000 confirmed cases as of March 28, 2020 and nearly 31,000 deaths.1 Data from the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità [ISS]) where fatalities are thus far the highest suggest a fatality rate of 7.2%, significantly higher than that which has been observed in other countries.2 Elderly patients are at greatest risk of mortality from COVID-19, and approximately 23% of the Italian populace is aged 65 years or older, making the country particularly vulnerable.2
    Written by: Vikram M. Narayan, Paul Hegarty, Gianluca Giannarini, Rick Bangs, Stephanie Chisolm, and Ashish M. Kamat
    References:

    1. University JH. Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering Coronavirus Resource Center n.d.

    2. Onder G, Rezza G, Brusaferro S. Case-Fatality Rate and Characteristics of Patients Dying in Relation to COVID-19 in Italy. JAMA 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4683.

    3. Liang W, Guan W, Chen R, Wang W, Li J, Xu K, et al. Cancer patients in SARS-CoV-2 infection: a nationwide analysis in China. Lancet Oncol 2020;21:335–7. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30096-6.

    4. Moulton LH, Rahmathullah L, Halsey NA, Thulasiraj RD, Katz J, Tielsch JM. Evaluation of non-specific effects of infant immunizations on early infant mortality in a southern Indian population. Trop Med Int Heal 2005;10:947–55. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3156.2005.01434.x.

    5. Aaby P, Roth A, Ravn H, Napirna BM, Rodrigues A, Lisse IM, et al. Randomized trial of BCG vaccination at birth to low-birth-weight children: beneficial nonspecific effects in the neonatal period? J Infect Dis 2011;204:245–52. doi:10.1093/infdis/jir240.

    6. Leentjens J, Kox M, Stokman R, Gerretsen J, Diavatopoulos DA, van Crevel R, et al. BCG Vaccination Enhances the Immunogenicity of Subsequent Influenza Vaccination in Healthy Volunteers: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study. J Infect Dis 2015;212:1930–8. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiv332.

    7. Arts RJW, Moorlag SJCFM, Novakovic B, Li Y, Wang S-Y, Oosting M, et al. BCG Vaccination Protects against Experimental Viral Infection in Humans through the Induction of Cytokines Associated with Trained Immunity. Cell Host Microbe 2018;23:89-100.e5. doi:10.1016/j.chom.2017.12.010.

    8. Hegarty PK, Sfakianos JP, Giannarini G, DiNardo AR, Kamat AM. Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG): what is the link? Eur Urol Oncol 2020 in press
    Published April 2, 2020

  • Bladder Cancer BioMarkers: Optimal Utilization for Diagnosis and Recurrence

    Published in Everyday Urology - Oncology Insights: Volume 1, Issue 3
    Published Date: September 2016

    Voided urine cytology has been the gold standard for detecting bladder cancer since 1945. Its specificity nears 90%, meaning that a positive result is highly reliable. But cytology is unreliable for detection of low grade tumors such that only about 20% to 30% of low grade bladder tumors are identified using cytology. 
    Published January 6, 2017

  • Bladder Cancer Immunotherapy: Establishing a Clinic of Excellence

    Published in Everyday Urology - Oncology Insights: Volume 3, Issue 1
    Published Date: March 2018

    Until recently, decades had elapsed with little progress in treating metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC). Cisplatin-based chemotherapy, the best available treatment option, had a median overall survival (OS) of 12-15 months, an overall response rate (ORR) of 50-60%, and was curative in about 10% of cases, but also was associated with potentially serious toxicities.12, 13, 2, 7, 3 
    Published August 14, 2018

  • Bladder Cancer Outcomes in Women Vary over Time - Expert Commentary

    Understanding differences in bladder cancer outcomes between men and women can help physicians tailor optimal treatment and follow-up strategies.
    Published November 11, 2019

  • Bladder Cancer: New Insights Into its Molecular Pathology - Beyond the Abstract

    Bladder cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide. The majority of patients present with non-invasive bladder cancer, comprising non-invasive papillary carcinoma (Ta) and carcinoma in situ (CIS; Tis). Bladder cancer develops either via the FGFR3/RAS pathway (for Ta) or the TP53/RB1 pathway (for Tis). Non-invasive papillary carcinoma (Ta) develops from hyperplasia post FGFR3/HRAS mutation; then, it potentially progresses to invasive carcinoma after the inactivation of CDKN2A/TP53/RB1. Carcinoma that develops via this FGFR3/RAS pathway has been considered as the luminal type. CIS develops from dysplasia after the inactivation of TP53/RB1, followed by aggressive invasive carcinoma. Carcinoma that develops via the TP53/RB1 pathway has been considered as the basal type.
    Published April 13, 2018

  • Blue Light Cystoscopy: Insights on Recurrence, Progression, and Clinical Management

    Published in Everyday Urology - Oncology Insights: Volume 3, Issue 3

    Published Date: September 2018

    More than 81,000 individuals are diagnosed with bladder cancer in the United States every year, of whom 75% have non-muscle invasive disease.1,2 Unfortunately, half these cases recur despite transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT), and from 5% to 25% of repeated recurrences progress to muscle-invasive disease.3,4,5
    Published December 4, 2018

  • Brief Q&A for Patients by the International Bladder Cancer Group on the BCG Shortage

    BCG: What to do when there is a Shortage 

    Introduction 
    Intravesical therapy may be an important component of the management of bladder cancer (BC). The delivery of anticancer medication directly into the bladder with a catheter placed into the bladder through the urethra has been a part of bladder cancer management for many decades. All patients with BC have an initial transurethral resection (TUR BT) which is designed to remove all of the tumor, when possible. The tumor tissue is then submitted to a pathologist for diagnosis. The pathology report states the tumor grade as well as the presence or absence of invasion into the muscular layer of the bladder. The urologist will review this information, and along with his/her understanding of the appearance of the bladder cancer as well as their impression of whether or not all of the tumor has been removed, decide about the treatment strategy. 
    Published February 14, 2019

  • Carcinoma In Situ of the Bladder with Plasmacytoid Features - Expert Commentary

    Carcinoma in situ (CIS) is a distinct pathological entity. The significance of histological variants associated with CIS is not well-understood.
    Published September 9, 2019

  • Clinical impact of postoperative loss in psoas major muscle and nutrition index after radical cystectomy for patients with urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.

    Although the significance of preoperative nutritional status has been investigated, there is no report regarding the relationship of their postoperative changes on outcomes in patients who underwent radical cystectomy for bladder cancer.
    Published April 3, 2017

  • Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Micropapillary Urothelial Carcinoma of the Bladder - Expert Commentary

    Micropapillary (MP) is a histological variant of bladder cancer. As with most other histological variants of bladder cancer, the available data is derived from small case series and treatment is based on expert opinion. More knowledge about treatment and prognosis of MP UBC is needed to identify the optimal therapy for MP UBC. 
    Published May 15, 2019

  • Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Panurothelial Carcinoma Treated with Radical Nephroureterectomy Following Cystectomy for Metachronous Recurrence.

    We report pathologic, functional, and oncologic outcomes in patients treated with radical nephroureterectomy following radical cystectomy.

    We identified patients who underwent radical cystectomy then radical nephroureterectomy for metachronous urothelial recurrence at our institution between January 1995 and December 2014.
    Published April 3, 2017

  • Conditional Reprogramming of Patient-derived Bladder Cancer Cells for Personalized Treatment Strategies – Expert Commentary

    There is a broad spectrum of bladder cancer responsiveness to treatment in the clinic. The development of practical methods to provide accurate, individualized drug sensitivity information from each patient's tumor is needed to improve outcomes.
    Published August 16, 2019

  • Contemporary treatment patterns and outcomes of sarcomatoid bladder cancer: Beyond the Abstract

    In 2016, 750,000 bladder cancer survivors are estimated to live in the United States alone and over 75,000 new cases will be diagnosed.1,2 The vast majority are urothelial tumors however a small proportion of these will be variant histologies. Sarcomatoid carcinoma (SaC) is such a subtype and is estimated to represent 0.3% of all urothelial cancers.3 Much of our knowledge about this disease is derived from case studies or single-institution reports of which have totaled fewer than 100 cases in the last several decades.4-7
    Published April 7, 2017

  • Contemporary Use Trends and Survival Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy or Bladder-Preservation Therapy for Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer - Expert Commentary

    Bladder preservation therapy is a definitive treatment option for clinically localized bladder cancer.  Previous studies demonstrated improved 10-year locoregional control when comparing chemo-radiotherapy with radiation therapy alone. However, evidence from prospective or randomized controlled trials comparing survival outcomes of patients treated with bladder preservation with those of patients receiving radical cystectomy is generally lacking.
    Published August 8, 2017

  • CUOS 2019: Bladder Preservation for Invasive Bladder Cancer: Lessons Learned and Future Perspectives

    Toronto, Ontario (UroToday.com) In this discussion, the topic of bladder preservation was presented by Dr. Huddart from the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom.

    Muscle invasive bladder cancer, after diagnosis using TURBT, is usually treated with radical cystectomy with the option of neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery. However, another option is treatment with Radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy (radiosensitizer). These patients are then followed with cystoscopy, which can then lead to either salvage radical cystectomy for residual/recurrent invasive disease, or another TURBT with local treatment for the superficial disease recurrence.
    Published January 13, 2019

  • CUOS 2019: Five-Year Outlook in the Management of Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

    Toronto, Ontario (UroToday.com) In this discussion, Dr. Bellmunt presented the standard of care in second-line management of advanced bladder cancer and gave an update on targeted therapies. He also discussed some of the phase 2 and phase 3 trials with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, and associated biomarkers.
    Published January 12, 2019

  • Cytological Features of Micropapillary and Plasmacytoid Variants of Urothelial Carcinoma - Expert Commentary

    The micropapillary and plasmacytoid variants are rare and aggressive urothelial carcinoma (UC) subtypes. The morphological features of these variants in urine cytology are not well described. A recent study published by Straccia et al. in Diagnostic Cytopathologyevaluated the urine cytology of 15 high-grade UC cases with plasmacytoid and micropapillary histology to define their cytomorphological characteristics. The study included six patients with the plasmacytoid variant and nine patients with the micropapillary variant. The cohort included three females and 12 males. The median age was 79 years (range 72-90 years).
    Published February 27, 2020

  • Detection of TERT Promoter Mutations in Urine Precedes the Clinical Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer - Expert Commentary

    There is a need for a non-invasive for early detection of bladder cancer (BC). Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations are common in bladder cancer patients. A recent study by Hosen MI et al. in BioMedicine investigated the use of an amplicon-based Ion Torrent sequencing assay (UroMuTERT) and digital PCR assays to examine the use of TERT promoter mutations for BC screening.1 In this case-control study, the investigators included 30 BC cases and 101 controls in the final analysis.
    Published March 30, 2020

  • Diagnosing Bladder Cancer using Urinary Cell-Free microRNA - Expert Commentary

    Although hematuria is the most common symptoms of bladder cancer (BC), it can be caused by many non-malignant conditions. The low sensitivity of voided urine cytology (VUC) and the invasiveness the cystoscopy, create an unmet need for a noninvasive test with high accuracy to detect BC in patients with hematuria. 
    Published October 24, 2018

  • Diagnosis and Pathology of Bladder Cancer

    Diagnosis:

    Clinical Presentation

    There are no reliable screening tests available for detecting bladder cancer; hence the diagnosis is usually made based on clinical signs and symptoms. Painless hematuria – microscopic or gross – is the most common presentation and a hematuria investigation in an otherwise asymptomatic patient detects bladder neoplasm in roughly 20% of gross and 5% of microscopic cases.1,2 Irritative voiding (frequency, urgency, and/or dysuria) is usually ascribed to benign urinary tract disorders but has been associated with carcinoma in situ. Other symptoms are often a signal of more advanced disease, such as flank pain caused by ureteral obstruction or pelvic pain from extravesical invasion of surrounding structures.  

    Cystoscopy

    Cystoscopy is a mainstay for the diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer, allowing for direct access to a tumor for biopsy, fulguration, and/or resection. Low grade (LG), papillary (Ta) tumors can be reliably eradicated with one treatment but more advanced disease (high grade and/or T1) often requires repeat resection for complete eradication. Following an initial diagnosis of HG Ta or T1, between 40% and 78% of re-TUR specimens may contain residual disease, with muscle invasion present in 2% and 14%, respectively.3-6 Hence the AUA and EAU guidelines recommend repeat TURBT within 6 weeks from the index procedure to confirm tumor stage, ensure complete visual tumor clearance, and optimize response to subsequent intravesical therapy.7,8 

    Recent technological advances promise improved detection over white light cystoscopy (WLC) alone, theoretically allowing for a more complete endoscopic tumor removal. Blue light cystoscopy (BLC) has been approved for over a decade in Europe and the US based on numerous studies showing improvement in detection of bladder tumors as well as lengthening the time to recurrence by as much as 7 months (9.4 months vs 16.4 months). The improvement in tumor detection estimated to be 20% greater with BLC compared to WLC, and up to 40% specifically for CIS, however, the beneficial effect on disease recurrence and/or progression has not been universally reported in all studies.9-12 Narrow band imaging (NBI) also offers better detection than WLC but does not require a pre-operative medication instillation like BLC. Specialized optical equipment emits light in two specific wavelengths (415 nm and 540 nm) that are more readily absorbed by hemoglobin, thereby enhancing submucosal vascularity associated with malignancy.13 In a recent systematic review of five RCTs comparing WLC to NBI, the authors found statistically significant reduction in NMIBC recurrence at 3 months (RR 0.39), 1 year (RR 0.52), and 2 years (RR 0.60).14 No matter the technique, enhanced cystoscopy improves detection but whether the added time and expense translate into improved patient outcomes is still not entirely clear. 

    Urinary Markers

    The urothelium is particularly well suited anatomically for assessment of potential biomarkers that can be obtained with little to no need for invasive procedures. Cells and cellular molecules (proteins, RNA, etc.) shed into the urine as it passes through the upper and lower urinary tract; they can be collected and purified from voided or catheterized specimens. The information gathered can then be used for screening, diagnosis, treatment response, and/or surveillance. The most well-known and widely used technique is urinary cytology, by which the cellular component of a urine specimen is microscopically assessed for features typically associated with high-grade malignancy (mitotic figures, condensed chromatin, enlarged nucleoli, etc.). Interpretation and reporting by cytopathologists has contributed to confusion surrounding urinary cytology with the use of terms like “suspicious, atypical, or indeterminate. The Paris Reporting System for Urinary Cytology has standardized the cytopathologic nomenclature while providing an estimated risk of malignancy based on associated literature (Table 1).15 While specificity has historically been very high (>99%), the poor sensitivity of urinary cytology, especially for papillary tumors (4-31%), make it far from ideal for either screening or surveillance.16-19 More contemporary data has been less robust, placing specificity at a more modest 82-88% and highlighting the need for more advanced markers.20
    table-1-diagnosis-pathology-bladder-cancer@2x.jpg
    There are now five FDA-approved tests available (Table 2) in addition to many more potential biomarkers (i.e. DNA methylation, cell free DNA, histone modification) in various stages of development.21,22 The UroVysion test uses fluorescence in situhybridization (FISH) to detect common chromosomal aberrations associated with bladder cancer and outperforms urinary cytology in terms of sensitivity, though this is almost entirely attributable to better detection of Ta tumors.23 The ImmunoCyt (uCyt+) assay was designed to complement cytology and increases the sensitivity to 59% for grade 1 tumors and up to 90% for grade 3 by using monoclonal antibodies directed against common urothelial surface markers.24 Nuclear matrix protein-22 (NMP-22) is involved in normal chromatin maintenance during mitosis but is greatly overexpressed in bladder carcinoma cells. Despite a reported sensitivity of 73% and specificity of 80%, the test has not gained widespread acceptance due to variability in accuracy between institutions and a high rate of false positive tests.25,26 The newest test to gain FDA-approval is the RNA based CxBladder test which measures the relative levels of 5 different mRNA transcripts within the urine (4 associated with malignancy and 1 with benign conditions) to produce an impressive combination of sensitivity and specificity at 82% and 85%, respectively.27,28 
    table-2-diagnosis-pathology-bladder-cancer@2x.jpg
    To date, none of the available data supports the use of urinary biomarkers as the sole method of bladder cancer detection, diagnosis, or follow-up, as stated by both the EAU and AUA in their respective NMIBC guidelines, however, they may offer useful information when assessing treatment response and during long-term surveillance as an adjunct to cystoscopy.7,8 Initial enthusiasm for these tests in the early to mid-2000s has waned, whereas use of urinary cytology has remained constant despite its shortcomings.29 The use of markers in prognostication and prediction of response to therapy is discussed in the next section on management of NMIBC.

    Imaging

    A complete diagnostic evaluation includes imaging of the entire urinary tract to assess for abnormalities of the urothelium normally out of view from cystoscopy. Upper tract urothelial tumors are uncommon, present in only 1.5% of patients with NMIBC, but certain features (multifocality, trigonal lesions, and/or CIS) raise this risk to more than 7%.30,31 The best combination of sensitivity (67-100%) and specificity (93-99%) is offered by computed tomographic urography (CTU) because of high soft tissue special resolution and contrast enhanced assessment of the urothelial surfaces and this has replaced intravenous urography in most centers in North America.32-35 Magnetic resonance imaging can be used as a substitute for CTU if the patient has an allergy to iodinated contrast or low GFR.36 In an effort to standardize MRI reporting and improve diagnostic accuracy, the multiparametric MRI based Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) was introduced in early 2018 with a 5 tiered system designed to predict likelihood of finding muscle invasion on TURBT, though it has not been validated in the clinical setting as of yet.37 Ultrasonography with retrograde pyelography is reserved for circumstances where both CT and MRI cannot be performed.

    Pathology:

    Urothelial carcinoma is the most common bladder cancer histology (~90%) diagnosed in the US, followed by squamous (2-5%), adenocarcinoma (2%), neuroendocrine (1%), and other rare tumors (<1%).38 The urothelium is the epithelial lining of the urinary tract and has a thickness in the bladder of approximately 5 to 7 cell layers overlying the lamina propria. Tumors that are confined to the bladder and do not invade the muscularis propria are considered non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) comprised of stages Ta, T1, and carcinoma in situ (CIS). Invasion of the muscularis propria – so called muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC,T2)“ represents an advanced stage with life threatening consequences requiring surgical management (i.e. radical cystectomy). 

    Tumor Grading

    Tumor grade is an important prognostic feature of bladder cancer but there is a lack of consensus internationally regarding the classification system. The extreme ends of the spectrum (highly aggressive and low malignant potential) are easy to identify but the middle ground has proved more elusive. In the World Health Organization 1973 grading system, there are 3 tiers of tumor grade (1, 2, and 3), though a majority of tumors end up as the intermediate grade 2 as a diagnosis of exclusion. The International Society of Urologic Pathologists (ISUP)/WHO 2004 grading system includes only high or low grade and exhibits better prognostic ability over the WHO 1973 system, at the expense of upward stage migration.39,40 Enrichment of the grade 3 group via inclusion of borderline grade 2 cases only leaves more indolent disease in the LG category and exposes those patients to overtreatment. The final version released as the ISUP/WHO 2004 grading system (now updated with minor revisions as the 2016 system) has been adopted throughout North America but the 1973 version is still in widespread use across Europe (Figure 1).41 
    diagram-bladder-cancer@2x.jpg
    Divergent Differentiation and Histologic Variants

    The ability of the urothelium to exhibit divergent differentiation is well known and may occur in a pure or mixed form (Table 3).42,43 When certain subtypes are present without elements of usual urothelial carcinoma, the tumor is referred to in terms of its pure histology (i.e. squamous cell carcinoma [SCC] of the bladder, adenocarcinoma of the bladder), in contrast to variant histology discussed below.41 Adenocarcinoma has a typical glandular (intestinal) appearance and tends to be more aggressive than UC.44 As such, complete early resection with radical cystectomy is advocated, even for T1 tumors, to achieve the best clinical outcomes.45 Pure SCC is more common in regions with endemic Bilhazrial infections and has been associated with a favorable clinical course, however, the non-infectious form is a distinct entity with a worse prognosis warranting similar management as adenocarcinoma.46 Small cell carcinoma is a neuroendocrine tumor with a very high propensity for distant spread at presentation and should be treated with upfront chemotherapy followed by surgery if free of detectable metastasis.47
    table-3-diagnosis-pathology-bladder-cancer@2x.jpg
    The impact of mixed histologic variants is less clear owing to multiple factors including low recognition historically among pathologists and tumor under-sampling during resection.48,49 In one study, repeat pathologic review of more than 1,200 bladder cancers diagnosed as pure UC between 1980 and 2005 found that 1/3rd actually contained a variant component.50 The sarcomatoid subtype is characterized by a mesenchymal and spindle-cell like appearance and exhibits a propensity for aggressive growth.51 These tumors present with extravesical invasion (T3-4) in about 1/3rd of cases.52 Micropapillary histologic architecture has been described in other malignancies and is typically associated with poor prognosis.53 Higher stage on presentation and increased likelihood for bladder invasion have been noted when even small regions of micropapillary differentiation are present (~10%), but the optimal treatment approach (neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus immediate RC) is still a topic for debate.54,55 Plasmacytoid variant is locally aggressive and frequently under-staged as evidenced by an 80% upstaging rate of clinical T1 to pathologic after cystectomy.56,57 The pattern of spread of plasmacytoid is particularly unusual for bladder cancer given its predilection for peritoneal implantation.58 The histologic appearance of nested subtype is similar to von Brunn nests, but unlike the benign nature of the latter, nested variant carries significant probability of muscle invasion (70%) and/or lymph node positivity (67%).59 Squamous and glandular differentiation are associated with a higher stage at initial diagnosis, however, clinical outcomes are no different than conventional urothelial carcinoma and standard treatment pathways should be sufficient.60,61 The AUA NMIBC guidelines direct the clinician to consider upfront radical cystectomy in T1 patients with any variant histology, citing the association of variant histology with a high rate of under-staging, however, the EAU guidelines limit their recommendation to only micropapillary histology.7,8,55,62

    Molecular Classification

    The accumulation of DNA damage necessary to produce bladder cancer requires several decades to occur, and as a result, MIBC exhibits a very high mutational burden and chromosomal instability. Concurrent genomic studies from several international research groups produced a range of intrinsic MIBC molecular subtypes with similar expressional profiles but different nomenclature. It is generally accepted that there are 2 major subtypes, luminal and basal, with better prognosis among the former. These tumors tend to be enriched for FGFR3 mutations associated with hyperproliferation and found at high frequency in non-invasive tumor. Despite the poor prognosis of the basal subtype, characterized by p53 mutations and alterations of DNA-damage repair pathways, these tumors are more responsive to platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy than any other group.63 Low-grade tumors are genetically far more stable than MIBC, with highly conserved alterations in FGFR3 (79%), KDM6A (53%), and PIK3CA (52%).64,65 NMIBC has also been classified according to a molecular profiling schema, though it is less robust than what is available for MIBC. The major take-home point from this work thus far is the similarity between HG NMIBC and MIBC, pointing to a common pathway for progression.64,66,67

    Published Date: April 16th, 2019
    Written by: Justin T. Matulay, MD and Ashish Kamat, MD, MBBS
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    50. Linder BJ, Boorjian SA, Cheville JC, et al. The impact of histological reclassification during pathology re-review--evidence of a Will Rogers effect in bladder cancer? J Urol. 2013;190(5):1692-1696.
    51. Moch H, Humphrey PA, Ulbright TM, et al. WHO Classification of Tumours of the Urinary System and Male Genital Organs. 4th ed. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2016.
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    55. Meeks JJ, Taylor JM, Matsushita K, et al. Pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive micropapillary bladder cancer. BJU Int. 2013;111(8):E325-330.
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    Published April 16, 2019

  • Does Pre-Treatment Quality of Life Impact the Prognosis of Patients with Urothelial Carcinoma? - Expert Commentary

    The relationship between the baseline quality of life (QOL) and clinical outcomes for urothelial cancer (UC) patients is not well defined. A recent study published by Suppanuntaroek et al. investigated the relationship between pre-treatment quality of life (QOL) and overall survival (OS) in UC patients. The authors included 125 non-metastatic UC patients who underwent a radical cystectomy or nephroureterectomy for non-metastatic UC (M0 group) and 80 metastatic UC who received chemotherapy for metastatic UC (M1 group) between June 2013 and May 2019.
    Published February 19, 2020

  • Early Detection of Bladder Urothelial Cell Carcinoma Using Micronuclei, Nucleoplasmic Bridges and Nuclear Buds - Expert Commentary

    Chromosomal damage, breakage, loss, and rearrangement are early events in cancer initiations. A recent study published by Podrimaj-Bytyqi et al. in Scientific Reports evaluated the use of chromosomal damage as a biomarker for the early detection of bladder cancer using micronuclei (MN) assays. The investigator assessed the frequencies of biomarkers of chromosomal damage including: (MN), nucleoplasmic bridges (NPBs) and nuclear buds (NBUDs) as predictors of genomic instability. The study enrolled 40 non-smoker urothelial carcinoma patients and 20 controls. The investigators simultaneously conducted MN assays in urothelial exfoliated cells (UEC), buccal exfoliated cells (BEC), and a cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) cytome assay in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). 
    Published March 12, 2019

  • Early Detection of Relapse using Circulating Tumor DNA in Patients with Urothelial Bladder Carcinoma – Expert Commentary

    The use of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as an early detection tool is a promising development. However, the clinical utility of ctDNA in urothelial bladder cancer is not fully understood.
    Published August 16, 2019

  • EAU 2019: Blue Light Flexible Cystoscopy – Improving the Patient Experience

    Barcelona, Spain (UroToday.com) At the urogenital cancer treatment session, Dr. Yair Lotan discussed the impact of blue light flexible cystoscopy and utilization in the clinic setting. Dr. Lotan notes that there are several unmet medical needs with regards to non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). First, it is associated with a high risk of recurrence, with up to 61% of patients recurring in the first year, and up to 78% within 5 years. Second, NMIBC may progress to muscle invasion, including 17% at 1 year and up to 45% at 5 years. Third, there is a high rate of residual tumor after TURBT in that 34-76% of patients have evidence of tumor on repeat TURBT at 2-6 weeks. Fourth, patients with incomplete initial resection are at high risk of recurrence. This may be secondary to the continued growth of microscopic lesions which were not observed at initial TURBT, or new growth of small residual traces of tumor, often at the surgical margins.
    Published March 18, 2019

  • EAU 2019: Primary Results from SAUL: A Prospective, Multinational Single-Arm Study of Atezolizumab for Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma of the Urinary Tract

    Barcelona, Spain (UroToday.com) Dr. Axel Merseburger presented the preliminary results of the Safety of Atezolizumab in locally advanced or metastatic UrotheliaL and non-urothelial carcinoma of the urinary tract (SAUL) study at the EAU 2019 Breaking News session. Atezolizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets PD-L1 and inhibits the interaction with PD-L1 receptors. This treatment was approved as monotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma1-3:
    Published March 22, 2019

  • EAU 2019: TERT Promoter and FGFR3 Mutations – A Highly Sensitive and Non-invasive Tool for Bladder Cancer Recurrence Detection

    Barcelona, Spain (UroToday.com) Up to 3/4 of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients will endure recurrence during their lifetime. Disease follow up is invasive, costly and long and consists of cystoscopy, cytology, and imaging. The most prevalent non-invasive approach for the diagnosis of recurrence remains urinary cytology, although far from ideal with reduced sensitivity and specificity.  
    Published March 21, 2019

  • EMT Dysregulation Promotes the Most Aggressive Variant of Sarcomatoid Bladder Cancer - Expert Commentary

    Sarcomatoid urothelial bladder cancer (SARC) is an aggressive histological variant of bladder cancer. It is associated with early distant metastasis and poor survival rates. Understanding the molecular characteristics of SARC will lead to improved clinical outcomes.
    Published January 20, 2020

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