Bladder cancer: optimal application of preclinical models to suitable translational questions

Bladder cancer is a paradigm of solid tumor malignancy, and despite increased understanding of the molecular biology of this disease, cure rates have not changed greatly for 20 years. Further progress is being slowed by poor accrual of patients to structured clinical trials. The use of preclinical models, and in particular bladder cancer xenografts and cell lines, may allow more rational design of clinical trials, provided that the experimental questions posed are within the capability of the respective models. With the availability of targeted therapeutic drugs for treating bladder cancer, these models may be useful for the design of drug combination regimens and optimal sequencing of reagents.