Current status of targeted therapy in metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder

Urothelial bladder cancer is the second most common genitourinary GU cancer and is among the deadliest and most expensive cancers to treat. The introduction of new regimens improving outcomes of bladder cancer has been slow compared to other GU cancers. This is despite the fact that understanding of the genetic make up of this disease is relatively old. Based on this knowledge, many targets have been identified and therapeutic strategies laid out. This article reviews the literature on the biology of the bladder cancer as it relates to identification of targets. It also provides a review of the data from clinical trials that were designed to test the therapeutic strategies that exploit these targets.