Toward standardization in bladder cancer clinical trials: Guidance from the SITC-IBCG expert panel

Abstract

Over the last decade, the bladder cancer treatment landscape has shifted dramatically from one with few therapeutic options to one with many. Increased knowledge of cancer biology and a rethinking of clinical trial design have driven this drastic change. To create uniformity among studies and facilitate ongoing therapeutic advancements, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) and the International Bladder Cancer Group (IBCG) have issued a consensus statement to guide stage-specific bladder cancer clinical trial design across the disease spectrum. This commentary highlights the importance of these efforts to create synergy among trials and offers essential guidance to not only clinical trialists and regulators but also practicing oncologists seeking to identify high-quality trials to discuss with their patients.