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The annual ESMO Congress 2019 took place in Barcelona, Spain this year. Two of WBCPC members Fight Bladder Cancer (UK) & Les Zuros (France) participated alongside hundreds of fellow patient advocates from Europe and across the globe. Scroll down for the most exciting results in bladder cancer research presented at ESMO 2019.
Immunotherapy and chemotherapy in people with advanced bladder cancer who had not previously been given chemotherapy
Combining traditional chemotherapy with an immunotherapy drug called atezolizumab increased progression-free survival by several months in advanced bladder cancer patients in phase 3 IMvigor130 study. The cancer shrunk or disappeared in 47% of patients, and the signs of cancer disappeared completely in 12% of patients. This is the first positive study testing a chemotherapy-immunotherapy combination in people with advanced bladder cancer who had not previously been given chemotherapy.
If the immunotherapy can be used sooner, at the same time as chemotherapy, then this could mean that many advanced bladder cancer patients live longer and healthier lives.
Immunotherapy in people with non-muscle invasive cancer in people who had tried BCG
The phase 2 KEYNOTE-057 study looked at using pembrolizumab in people with non-muscle invasive cancer in people who had tried BCG.
102 patients were tested, and the cancer shrunk or disappeared in 42 people. After two years of treatment, 19 people still had no signs of cancer or cancer that had shrunk. No one developed muscle-invasive or metastatic disease while receiving the treatment. We will have to wait a few more years to see how this treatment works in the long term, but the initial results are very exciting.
Immunotherapy in people before bladder removal
Giving pembrolizumab to people with muscle-invasive bladder cancer before their radical cystectomy (bladder removal) was associated with complete response (disappearance of all signs of cancer) in 42% of patients in the phase 2 PURE-01 study. Similar results were seen with atezolizumab in the phase 2 ABACUS study.
Targeted therapy for advanced FGFR bladder cancer
A recent phase 2 study looked at giving a new drug called erdafitinib to people who had advanced bladder cancer, who were positive for the “FGFR” test, and who had previously been treated with chemotherapy. The cancer shrunk or disappeared in 40% of people.
Targeted therapy and immunotherapy in people with advanced bladder cancer who were not healthy enough to receive chemotherapy
The phase 1 EV-103 study looked at giving a new drug called enfortumab vedotin together with pembrolizumab to people with advanced bladder cancer who were not healthy enough to receive chemotherapy. The cancer shrunk or disappeared in 71% of patients. These are very early results, but very promising.
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