Rival targeted therapies take aim at bladder cancer

As the dust settles on 2019’s annual meeting of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), data from several candidates give hope that the burden of disease may soon be alleviated for millions of people diagnosed with bladder cancer.

In the USA alone, around 80,000 adults, mainly older people and mainly men, are diagnosed with this form of cancer - making it the fourth most common type. It is also the eighth most deadly form of cancer, causing an estimated 17,000 deaths annually.

While the overall five-year survival rate is currently 77%, and the overall 10-year survival rate is 70%, the impact of disease can be high, with many people having to undergo a cystectomy to remove the bladder.