Bladder Cancer Research Results and Study Updates

A randomized clinical trial comparing two types of surgery in people with localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer found that more extensive surgery removing a larger group of lymph nodes did not improve survival, compared with standard lymph node surgery.

An NCI trial shows that giving patients pembrolizumab after surgery for high-risk muscle invasive bladder cancer doubles the median length of time that they remain cancer free, compared with observation alone after surgery.

For the first time in decades, people with advanced bladder cancer have more effective treatment options. New clinical trial results mark a pivotal moment following years of little progress, bladder cancer experts believe.

In men, loss of the Y chromosome in bladder cancer cells helped tumors evade the immune system and grow unchecked, a new study shows. However, losing the chromosome also appears to make bladder cancer more susceptible to immunotherapy, researchers reported.

Updated results from a large clinical trial confirm that, for some people with bladder cancer, receiving immunotherapy after surgery is an effective treatment. In 2021, initial results from the same trial led to FDA approval of nivolumab (Opdivo) for this use.

The standard treatment for high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), a drug called BCG, has been in shortage for a decade. Bladder cancer experts agree that gemcitabine and docetaxel offers an effective alternative to BCG, after a study showed that 82% of patients with high-risk NMIBC treated with the combination were alive 2 years later without their cancer returning.

Results from a large study show that, for most people with advanced bladder cancer, starting immunotherapy with avelumab (Bavencio) shortly after initial treatment with chemotherapy is better than delaying treatment.

Enfortumab vedotin-ejfv (Padcev) has been approved for people with advanced bladder cancer. FDA granted the drug accelerated approval for cancers that have progressed despite previous treatments.

New clinical trial findings confirm that the targeted therapy erdafitinib (Balversa) can benefit patients with advanced bladder cancer whose tumors have a genetic alteration in one of the four FGFR genes.

FDA has changed the approved uses of the immunotherapy drugs pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to treat the most common form of bladder cancer. The change is based on whether patients’ tumors have a specific biomarker.

Flushing the bladder with the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine after tumors have been removed surgically may reduce the risk of low-grade bladder cancer returning, according to the results of a large clinical trial.

The FDA has approved four immunotherapy drugs—avelumab, atezolizumab, durvalumab, and pembrolizumab—for the treatment of patients with bladder cancer. All four drugs belong to a class of cancer therapies known as checkpoint inhibitors.

The FDA has approved nivolumab for the treatment of unresectable locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer that worsened after treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy.

The FDA has approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq®) for the treatment of some patients with urothelial carcinoma, the most common type of bladder cancer.

A new study has found that drinking water from private wells, particularly dug wells established during the first half of the 20th century, may have contributed to the elevated risk of bladder cancer that has been observed in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont for over 50 years.