Dr. Zhang on Multidisciplinary Approaches in Urothelial Cancer

Tian Zhang, MD, associate professor, the Department of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, discusses the utilization of multidisciplinary approaches in urothelial cancers.

Optimizing multidisciplinary treatment approaches is a priority in localized non–muscle invasive and muscle invasive bladder cancer, Zhang says. For example, treatment may consist of a combination of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery in muscle invasive bladder cancer or chemoradiation and bladder preservation, Zhang adds.

Additionally, systemic treatments that have shown activity and improvements in outcomes in the refractory settings are now being moved into the localized setting, Zhang explains. As such, urologists and radiation oncologists are collaborating on trials that are evaluating systemic treatments in the localized setting, Zhang concludes.