Predictive Biomarkers and Targeted Therapies in Genitourinary Cancers

Abstract

Targeted therapies have unique roles in the management of genitourinary cancers. To date, many biomarkers which are directly involved in the pathways of action of these agents have not proven effective. Most recently, an immunotherapy agent was approved by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic urothelial cancer, with PD-L1 expression as its predictive marker of response. Newer markers which show promise are those identified by molecular techniques such as genotyping or next-generation sequencing of either tumor tissue or circulating tumor cells/DNA. This sophisticated precision medicine strategy shows promise in identifying novel predictors of patient response to targeted therapies.