AI Summary
This article discusses the poor outcomes of basal/squamous and mixed subtype bladder cancers after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the VESPER trial. It highlights the need for predictive biomarkers for response or chemoresistance in muscle-invasive bladder cancer, with gene expression-based subtypes being considered as potential markers. The response of the basal subtype to chemotherapy is a point of debate.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is the standard treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), yet 40% of patients progress, emphasizing the need for biomarkers predictive for response or chemoresistance. Gene expression-based subtypes may serve as biomarkers, though which subtypes will respond, notably when it comes to the basal subtype, remains contentious.