Immunotherapy Improves Survival Chance of Bladder Cancer Patients

Immunotherapy after surgery increased bladder cancer patients’ chances of staying cancer-free compared to patients who received a placebo, according to clinical trial results shared in a late-breaking oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2023 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in February.

The three-year follow-up results from the Phase 3 CheckMate 274 trial. Patients on the trial had urothelial cancer of the bladder or upper urinary tract and had tumor features indicating a high risk for recurrence. Adjuvant nivolumab became a standard of care based on the initial results of CheckMate 274.

Living as a Bladder Cancer Survivor after Immunotherapy

These results, showing patients’ continued survival three years out, reinforce adjuvant nivolumab as a standard of care for patients with muscle-invasive urothelial cancer of the bladder or upper urinary tract. Normally, patients with this cancer face a high chance of recurrence, especially within the first three years after surgical removal of the bladder or kidney.

Bladder Cancer – Symptoms, Signs, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prognosis & Prevention
Bladder cancer occurs due to abnormal cell growth in the urinary bladder. The most common kind usually is urothelial cancer or transitional cell carcinoma.

‘Immunotherapy after surgery provides significant, durable benefits for high-risk bladder cancer patients.’

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This new data showed that at approximately three years of follow-up, nivolumab increased these patients’ chances of staying cancer-free after surgery compared to patients who received a placebo.

The average length of time before relapse doubled in patients who received nivolumab, which is a monoclonal antibody immune checkpoint inhibitor that harnesses the immune system to fight cancer. For a subset of clinical trial patients who received the immunotherapy, disease-free survival was more than six times that of patients on a placebo.

Among the 699 patients in the trial, half received nivolumab, and the other half received a placebo every two weeks for one year. Adjuvant nivolumab versus placebo was not associated with a detriment to the quality of life.

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It could now be possible to predict how immunotherapy would affect patients with bladder cancer and other malignancies.

This trial was conducted with support from Bristol Myers Squibb, the maker of the immunotherapy, in collaboration with ONO Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.

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When robotic and traditional surgery of bladder cancer were compared, it was found that both these methods were equally effective and no major risk to the patients was found after the surgery.

Source-Eurekalert

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