Immunotherapy in the treatment of urological tumors

The relevance of immunotherapy in treatment of tumors of the genitourinary system is increasing every year, which is due to the emerging data of molecular genetic studies, changes in classifications and a large number of ongoing clinical studies. The purpose of the study Assessment of the current status of immunotherapy in treatment of bladder, kidney, and prostate cancer.

Materials and methods

This literature review includes original articles, systematic reviews and meta-analyses devoted to the treatment of tumors of genitourinary system using immunotherapy. The search was performed in the Pubmed database using predefined keywords in the period from 2001 to 2024.

Results

The introduction of ICPI group drugs (immune check-point inhibitors) is the most important achievement in the treatment of urothelial tumors over the past 30 years, due to their relatively good tolerability and effectiveness. Currently, the FDA has approved 5 drugs from the ICPI group as the 2nd line of systemic therapy. Combined approaches have an advantage in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma, but no comparative studies have been conducted evaluating the superiority of a particular treatment regimen. Immunotherapy is not the standard treatment for prostate cancer, however, new drugs are being actively developed. In this direction, not only checkpoint inhibitors can have potential effects, but also various vaccines, CAR T-cell therapy and other variants of immunotherapy for prostate cancer.

Conclusion

Immunotherapy continues to occupy new places in the treatment of tumors of the genitourinary system, however, further study of its effectiveness is necessary.