New drug combination improves survival in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer
A new treatment approach could help people with an aggressive form of bladder cancer live longer and reduce the chances of their cancer returning or progressing, particularly those who cannot receive standard chemotherapy, according to findings from a large international clinical trial co-led by researchers at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
A groundbreaking study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown a new drug combination significantly improves survival rates for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who cannot receive standard chemotherapy. The treatment, tested in a large international trial led by UCLA Health researchers, combines the immunotherapy drug durvalumab with the targeted cancer drug enfortumab vedotin before bladder removal surgery, followed by durvalumab alone after surgery.
This approach reduced the risk of death by 42% compared to patients who underwent surgery alone, and cut the risk of cancer returning or progressing by 49%. The findings offer hope for the nearly half of patients with this aggressive form of bladder cancer who are unable to tolerate standard cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
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