Novel intravesical therapies for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer refractory to BCG

The definitive treatment for patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) who fail to respond to intravesical BCG is cystectomy. When a patient is deemed BCG-refractory and cannot or will not undergo cystectomy, alternative intravesical therapy may be the most effective way to minimize recurrence and progression. A number of immunotherapeutic and chemotherapeutic agents have been given intravesically over the years, and several recently and currently investigated novel agents appear to be particularly promising for the management of BCG-refractory NMIBC. The most effective treatments in the future will likely utilize targeted therapies based on the underlying genetic mutations associated with each individual diagnosis of NMIBC.