Advances in urothelial bladder cancer immunotherapy, dawn of a new age of treatment

Urothelial bladder cancer displays a high number of somatic mutations that render these tumors more responsive to immunotherapy. Several immunotherapeutic agents were examined in patients with advanced stage urothelial bladder cancer and recently atezolizumab - an (PDL-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor antibody - was approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic disease progressing after platinum combination therapy. Despite the great success, there are still some unanswered questions and ongoing trials that are in progress to define the role of combination therapy and sequencing strategies. The objective of our manuscript is to summarize the most recent data on immunotherapy in advanced urothelial cancer. Current challenges and future perspectives of immunotherapy as a monotherapy or in combination strategies will also be analyzed.