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Urothelial cancer in 2017

Changes in expectations for metastatic urothelial carcinoma

2017 saw the publication of clinical trial data and the approval of new treatment approaches for metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Pembrolizumab is now a well-established treatment for patients with disease progression after cisplatin, with high-level evidence supporting its superiority over second-line chemotherapy. For patients ineligible for cisplatin, atezolizumab and pembrolizumab provide meaningful clinical benefit as frontline therapies.

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Correspondence to Joaquim Bellmunt or Rosa Nadal.

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Competing interests

J.B. has been a consultant for Agensys, Amgen, Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Eisai, Genentech, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Seattle Genetics; has received financial support for research from Novartis and Sanofi, and royalties for his UpToDate contribution in urothelial tumours. R.N. declares no competing interests.

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Bellmunt, J., Nadal, R. Changes in expectations for metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 15, 73–74 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2017.184

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