Tumor markers for bladder cancer: outlook for routine use

This article outlines the role of bladder cancer tumor markers in diagnosis and therapy with a particular focus on the most important biomarkers. A MEDLINE based literature search was performed to examine the field of bladder cancer markers. Further determination of recurrence and progression markers will contribute to establish better treatments for the individual patient. Molecular staging of urological tumors will allow selecting cases that will require systemic treatment. Therapeutically, knowledge of cancer progression pathways allows for drug therapies against specific tumor targets. It is necessary and important to integrate under the same objectives basic translational and clinical research.