The ability to accurately determine a complete clinical response (cCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) before cystectomy could have paradigm-shifting implications for the management of muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Level 1 evidence demonstrates that up to 40% of patients are downstaged to pT0 disease following NAC, presenting an intriguing opportunity to identify select patients who might be spared the morbidity of radical surgery. However, clinical investigations in this space are hindered by lack of a uniform approach to postchemotherapy restaging and a standardized definition of cCR. PATIENT SUMMARY: In this mini-review, we discuss the current limitations to restaging of muscle-invasive bladder cancer following neoadjuvant chemotherapy and their implications for personalized medicine and translational research. We conclude that there is an unmet need to optimize and standardize restaging evaluation and definitions of a complete clinical response.

European urology focus. 2019 Sep 04 [Epub ahead of print]

Jared S Winoker, Christine W Liaw, Matthew D Galsky, Peter Wiklund, Reza Mehrazin

James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: ., Department of Urology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA., Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.

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