A new era in the detection of urothelial carcinoma by sequencing cell-free DNA

Bladder cancer is a common malignancy with approximately 430,000 new cases diagnosed and 165,000 deaths recorded globally in 2012 (1). Histologically, 90% of bladder cancers originate from the urothelium. Urothelial bladder carcinoma (UBC) is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract. Approximately 25% of UBCs are classified as muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), which usually requires radical cystectomy, lymph node dissection, and/or perioperative platinum-based chemotherapy.