Current Role of Checkpoint Inhibitors in Urologic Cancers

Harnessing the host immune system to combat genitourinary cancers has key theoretical advantages over other anticancer strategies including specificity and memory which should translate to favorable tolerability and response durability in the clinic. Indeed, key examples of the potential for immunotherapeutic treatment of solid tumors are derived from data in genitourinary cancers including Bacillus Calmette-Guerin for urothelial cancer, sipuleucel-T for prostate cancer, and interleukin-2 for renal cancer. Despite these successes, developing effective immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer has largely been hampered by an incomplete understanding of tumor immunobiology and mechanisms of immune resistance. In just a few years since entering the clinic, immune checkpoint blockade has dramatically changed the landscaped of treatment for genitourinary cancer and has secured a place as a standard pillar of treatment. Further iterative bench-bedside-bench research is anticipated to extend the benefits of immunotherapeutic-based approaches to additional patients.