The end of 2019 brought positive news for patients with advanced urothelial cancer (UC), cancer of the bladder’s inner lining.

Patients with metastatic or locally advanced UC now have an additional treatment option: Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv), a drug recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that targets a type of cancer cell common to UC. In an article about the drug in Cure, MSK’s Dr. Jonathan E. Rosenberg calls the approval “a significant advance.”

Researchers at MSK led by Dr. Maria Carlo have made genetic findings for advanced UC. In a Journal of Clinical Oncology article, reported by Medwire News, the authors retrospectively identified genetic variants that could impact the screening and treatment of advanced UC. They recommend expanding genetic testing for these patients.

Dr. Jonathan E. Rosenberg                        Dr. Maria Carlo