Bladder Cancer treatment: New advances and remaining challenges

https://doi.org/10.65161/recrWcU4Nb6quJsXY

The rising incidence of bladder cancer has been increasingly linked to environmental changes, particularly in regions burdened by pollution. Alarmingly, there is a growing trend of early-onset, aggressive, and treatment-resistant forms of bladder cancer, underscoring the urgent need for broader clinical awareness, especially as this disease has traditionally been considered a malignancy of older adults. This shift highlights the importance of educating younger populations, as early-life exposure to carcinogens such as tobacco, vaping chemicals, and industrial toxins may predispose individuals to bladder cancer later in life. Despite medical advances, the standard treatment for bladder cancer still largely depends on systemic DNA-damaging chemotherapies, which are associated with significant adverse events, high recurrence rates, and only incremental improvements in patient outcomes. This review summarizes the recent knowledge of bladder cancer therapies, with an emphasis on the mechanisms of resistance to conventional treatments and the innovative immune checkpoint inhibitors. We also examine the exposure of high school students to chemicals from smoking and vaping as potential risk factors for bladder cancer, aiming to raise public awareness and support prevention.