Bladder Cancer: Paradigm Changing Advances in Treatment

Transcript:Evan Yu, MD: The field of bladder cancer has changed dramatically since the approval of atezolizumab in this disease. Following the approval of atezolizumab, nivolumab has been FDA-approved as well. So, now we have both PD-L1 and PD-1 therapies available in this disease in the second-line setting and beyond. Recently, atezolizumab was also granted accelerated approval in the first-line setting for patients who have metastatic urothelial carcinoma and are cisplatin-ineligible because of significant renal dysfunction, neuropathy, hearing issues, or poor performance status.

This has changed everything dramatically. We now have more in our armamentarium to provide our patients, and we also really do have a survival benefit from the fact that pembrolizumab showed—in a randomized phase III trial in the second-line setting and beyond—that they were better than taxane chemotherapy in terms of overall survival. This has really changed a lot. Now our patients have more treatment options, can prolong their survival better, and the patients who do respond to this can get very durable responses with minimal toxicity. So, it’s a complete paradigm shift for the field, and we’re ecstatic to have this happen.

Transcript Edited for Clarity