Intravesical therapy is central to managing non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC); yet, recurrence and progression remain common, underscoring the need for new treatments. This systematic review evaluates clinical trials of novel intravesical therapies for all risk categories of NMIBC. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify the clinical trials assessing the effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of intravesical therapies for NMIBC. The search focused on studies published from 2020 to 2024, including trials on bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive/refractory disease as well as on BCG-naïve and intermediate-risk patients. Mechanisms of action and drug delivery methods were summarized. No statistical syntheses were performed due to limited comparative data. Out of 2998 studies identified, 36 reported on efficacy and safety, and six provided patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Intravesical therapies included BCG-based therapies, chemotherapy combinations, chemical-drug conjugates, thermogels, hyperthermic chemotherapy, osmotic pumps, and gene therapy. Initial response rates ranged from 42% to 85% for BCG-unresponsive/refractory patients and from 65% to 100% for treatment-naïve patients. The 12-mo recurrence-free survival rates ranged from 22% to 83% and 39% to 92%, respectively. Progression and severe toxicity (grade ≥3) were rare (0-17% and 0-20%, respectively). PROs were stable. The limitations included early-phase studies, heterogeneous outcome assessments, and a need for research on long-term durability, comparative effectiveness, quality of life, and cost. This systematic review highlights the promising efficacy and tolerability of novel intravesical therapies for NMIBC. However, further research is needed to refine treatment strategies and assess long-term outcomes, quality of life, and economic factors. Future studies should include multiarm, multistage designs with a focus on patient-centered outcomes.

Purpose:Automated performance metrics provide a novel approach to the assessment of surgical performance. Herein, we present a construct validation of automated performance metrics during robotic a...

Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) is a multimodal pathway that provides evidence-based guidance for improving perioperative care and outcomes in patients undergoing surgery. In 2013, the ERAS society released its original guidelines for radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder cancer (BC), adopting much of its supporting data from colorectal literature. In the last decade, growing interest in ERAS has increased RC-specific ERAS research, including prospective randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Collective data suggest ERAS contributes to improved complication rates, decreased hospital length-of-stay, and/or time to bowel recovery. Various institutions have adopted modified versions of the ERAS pathway, yet there remains a lack of consensus on the efficacy of specific ERAS items and standardization of the protocol. In this review, we summarize updated evidence and practice patterns of ERAS pathways for RC since the introduction of the original 2013 guidelines. Novel target interventions, including use of immunonutrition, prehabilitation, alvimopan, and methods of local analgesia are reviewed. Finally, we discuss barriers to implementing and future steps in advancing the ERAS movement.

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignancies in the United States, with over 80,000 new cases and 16,000 deaths each year. Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is the most common histology and accounts for 90% of cases. BC management is complicated by recurrence rates of over 50% in both muscle-invasive and non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. As such, the American Urological Association (AUA) recommends that patients undergo close surveillance during and after treatment. This surveillance is in the form of cystoscopy or imaging tests, which can be invasive and costly tests. Considering this, there have been recent pushes to find complements to bladder cancer surveillance. Cell-free DNA (CfDNA), or DNA released from dying cells, and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), or mutated DNA released from tumor cells, can be analyzed to detect and characterize the molecular characteristics of tumors. Research has shown promising results for ctDNA use in the BC care realm. A PubMed literature review was performed finding studies discussing cfDNA and ctDNA in BC detection, prognostication, and monitoring for recurrence. Keywords used included bladder cancer, cell-free DNA, circulating tumor DNA, urothelial carcinoma, and liquid biopsy. Studies show that ctDNA can serve as prognostic indicators of both early- and late-stage BC, aid in risk stratification prior to major surgery, assist in detection of disease progression and metastatic relapse, and can assess patients who may respond to immunotherapy. The benefit of ctDNA is not confined to BC, as studies have also suggested its promise as a biomarker for neoadjuvant chemotherapy in upper-tract UC. However, there are some limitations to ctDNA that require improvements in ctDNA-specific detection methods and BC-specific mutations before widespread utilization can be achieved. Further prospective, randomized trials are needed to elucidate the true potential ctDNA has in advancements in BC care.