Neoadjuvant immunotherapy for muscle invasive urothelial bladder carcinoma: will it change current standards?

Immunotherapy, in the form of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), has shown activity in metastatic urothelial bladder carcinoma, resulting in the approval of several ICI agents in the first- and second-line settings. This has led to an increased interest in studying their efficacy in the neoadjuvant setting for muscle invasive disease – an area of significant unmet need. This non-systematic review will look at the evidence supporting the use of ICI in the neoadjuvant setting for this tumor, results of early-phase studies, ongoing trials, and possible future applications for these drugs.