Volume 16 Issue 8, August 2019

Immune checkpoint therapy is beneficial for patients with advanced bladder cancer; however, trials generally exclude patients with comorbidities or uncommon histologies. The SAUL trial demonstrates that atezolizumab is safe and efficacious in a patient population that more accurately reflects the real-world scenario, but its benefit might still be limited in historically poorly performing populations.

The concept that resistance against androgen receptor (AR) signalling inhibitors is explained by AR variants (ARVs) has spread as a seductive meme. However, two problems have delayed the translation of these findings to clinical practice: the complexity of the mechanism of action and the challenging development of clinical decision-making tools involving ARVs.

Tissue engineering using different cell types and tissue scaffolds offers a promising alternative to substitution urethroplasty, which can be associated with complications, restenosis and poor quality of life. In this Review, the authors describe advances in tissue engineering for urethral replacement and consider the future of the field.

In this Review, the authors discuss the molecular and histopathological evidence supporting pathology-driven therapy for advanced bladder cancer, including rare histological subtypes of urothelial carcinoma and non-urothelial carcinomas, and highlight novel molecular taxonomies, relevant biomarkers and promising future therapies.

In this Review, the authors discuss the emerging oncogenic roles of long non-coding RNAs in prostate, kidney and bladder cancers, highlighting unique opportunities to improve diagnosis, treatment and precision medicine strategies in these genitourinary malignancies.