Intravesical therapy for bladder cancer

Introduction: Transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) is the gold standard initial diagnostic intervention for bladder cancer and provides diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic benefit in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). However, TURBT alone is inadequate for optimal management of NMIBC, as patients will experience recurrence or progression depending on tumor characteristics. Adjuvant intravesical therapy with either immunotherapy or chemotherapy has been shown to reduce recurrence and/or progression in appropriately selected patients through immunostimulation or direct cell ablation.

Areas covered: This review will discuss risk stratification of patients with NMIBC and role of intravesical therapies in reducing recurrence and progression of disease in these patients. A Medline search was performed to identify the best available evidence available from various systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and clinical trials on various immunotherapy and chemotherapy agents. In addition, the main aspects of drug pharmacology (mechanism of action, dosing and administration) and side effects will be reviewed.

Expert opinion: The selection of the appropriate intravesical agent for NMIBC is complex and is dependent on risk stratification and intravesical agent toxicity. Intravesical induction and maintenance immunotherapy with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is the preferred and most effective agent for patients with high-risk NMIBC (carcinoma in situ and high-grade disease) and reduces both recurrence and progression.