The treatment strategy of bladder cancer has evolved not only through the traditional modalities of surgery and chemotherapy but also by immunotherapy over the past several decades. Immunotherapies such as intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccines and immune checkpoint blockades (ICBs) are sometimes used for treating patients with bladder cancer, especially those who develop resistance to conventional first-line treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy. Unfortunately, it is a limited number of individuals that see clinical benefits from this approach, and complicating matters more is that many of these patients suffer severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs). If current momentum continues to result in improved response rates and managed irAEs, immunotherapy could be poised to revolutionize the landscape of urothelial carcinoma therapeutics.
Science China. Life sciences. 2020 Aug 26 [Epub ahead of print]
Zhangsong Wu, Jinjian Liu, Ruixiang Dai, Song Wu
Department of Urological Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518000, China., Department of Urological Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518000, China. .