Therapeutic strategies for organ-confined and non-organ-confined bladder cancer after radical cystectomy

Abstract

In patients with muscle invasive or Bacillus Calmette-Guérin refractory urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder (UCUB) radical cystectomy represents the standard of care. However, a proportion of patients experience disease progression, local recurrence and/or metastatic disease. Areas covered: This review provides an overview of available therapeutic strategies after radical cystectomy and examines ongoing clinical trials including cytotoxic chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Expert commentary: Cytotoxic chemotherapy offers limited benefit in UCUB patients. However, the recent introduction of immunotherapy provides new hope for durable responses or possibly complete cures.

Keywords: Bladder cancer; adjuvant chemotherapy; cisplatin-based chemotherapy; immunotherapy; neoadjuvant chemotherapy; radical cystectomy; urothelial carcinoma.