Targeted therapies in urothelial bladder cancer: a disappointing past preceding a bright future?

Future Oncol. 2019 May;15(13):1505-1524. doi: 10.2217/fon-2018-0459. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

Abstract

Bladder cancer (BC) is the most frequent cancer affecting the urinary tract. With the growing era of targeted therapies around the 2000s, many trials evaluated the efficacy of targeted therapy in advanced BC. However, no approval was given yet to any form of targeted therapy when it comes to BC. The aim of this paper was to report the most pivotal trials that evaluated different families of targeted therapy in the treatment of BC, according to their biomarkers (FGFR3, EGFR, HER2, VEGF and PI3K/AKT/mTOR). The ongoing trials testing targeted therapies in advanced BC were then summarized. Finally, the different immunotherapies approved for this disease and their potential combination with targeted therapy were addressed.

Keywords: bladder cancer; immunotherapy; targeted therapy.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Humans
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy*
  • Neoplasm Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Neoplasm Proteins / metabolism
  • Prognosis
  • Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / pathology

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Neoplasm Proteins