Therapeutic Targets and Predictive Markers of Treatment Efficacy of Bladder Cancer

Abstract

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most common types of cancers in the world. Despite various treatments are currently in place, the prognosis of BC does not seem to improve. Therefore, this prompts us to search for alternative treatments. The understanding of the molecular changes in cancer offers the prospect of targeting the key elements responsible for cancer development and progression, and thus, helps to develop a more effective and robust targeted therapy that does not endanger normal cells. At present, protein-based therapeutic targets such as programmed death ligand 1, epidermal growth factor receptor and aberrantly glycosylated integrin-α3β1, and genetic targets such as p53, human EGF receptor-2, and miR-23b are promising targets for BC treatment. In addition, predictive markers of treatment efficacy for BC, such as meiotic recombination 11, excision repair cross-complementing group 1, and multidrug resistance 1 gene are essential in facilitating clinicians to design and implement suitable and effective therapies for BC patients. This review discusses the pivotal role of these markers in the development of targeted therapy and the estimation of the clinical outcome of BC.