Predicting Recurrence of Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: Current Techniques and Future Trends

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer is associated with its high rates of progression and recurrence, the proper diagnosis and management can save lives. Bladder cancer is the tenth most common type of cancer in the world. This review discusses the current markers used in the recurrence prediction of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer and future trends, published in the last decade, in addition to the limitations and future prospects in the field of AI-based prediction systems. ABSTRACT: Bladder cancer (BC) is the 10th most common cancer globally and has a high mortality rate if not detected early and treated promptly. Non-muscle-invasive BC (NMIBC) is a subclassification of BC associated with high rates of recurrence and progression. Current tools for predicting recurrence and progression on NMIBC use scoring systems based on clinical and histopathological markers. These exclude other potentially useful biomarkers which could provide a more accurate personalized risk assessment. Future trends are likely to use artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the prediction of recurrence in patients with NMIBC and decrease the use of standard clinical protocols such as cystoscopy and cytology. Here, we provide a comprehensive survey of the most recent studies from the last decade (N = 70 studies), focused on the prediction of patient outcomes in NMIBC, particularly recurrence, using biomarkers such as radiomics, histopathology, clinical, and genomics. The value of individual and combined biomarkers is discussed in detail with the goal of identifying future trends that will lead to the personalized management of NMIBC.