Food and Drug Administration process for development and approval of drugs and radiopharmaceuticals: treatments in urologic oncology.

Regulatory advice and assessment play an important role in the successful development of new drugs and radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of urologic malignancies. Cooperation between the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the pharmaceutical industry has led to the approval of more than 20 new urologic oncology products in the last 2 decades. Despite these advances, more effective treatments need to be developed and approved for the treatment of urologic malignancies. This review provides general information about the FDA's role in the development of investigational new drugs, with an emphasis on the regulatory process and the requirements for marketing approval. In addition, this review summarizes the products for the treatment of urologic malignancies that were approved by the FDA in the last 30 years and the key issues concerning urologic oncology products that were discussed publicly at Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee meetings in the past 10 years.