Emerging drugs for targeted therapy of bladder cancer

Although chemotherapy has improved the treatment of metastatic bladder cancer, resection and continual surveillance remain the modalities used for treatment of organ-confined disease. More targeted therapies are needed to address the shortcomings of existing treatments. The authors recently became aware of the overexpression of tyrosine kinase growth factor receptors in a variety of malignancies. These receptor tyrosine kinases are coupled to several proliferative and antiapoptotic pathways that drive cancer cell growth. Targeted small-molecule therapies, including monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, directed at these receptors have proven effective against a variety of tumor models. In this report, the authors summarize the results of several such studies and discuss the rationale and potential use of novel targeted drugs in the treatment of bladder cancer.