Dr. Grivas on Ongoing Trials in Advanced Bladder Cancer

Petros Grivas, MD, PhD, director, University of Washington Medicine’s Genitourinary Cancers Program, associate professor, Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses ongoing trials in advanced bladder cancer.

Right now, there are ongoing trials that are evaluating whether targeted therapies, such as FGFR inhibitors, may have activity in this disease. Early data from phase I trials in well-selected patients look very promising, says Grivas. Moreover, there are other agents that target the EGFR, HER2, and HER3 family.

There are also data with antibody-drug conjugates. These are toxins that are linked to an antibody that can target a particular protein in urothelial cancer cells. This can lead to the internalization of the toxin, which can potentially kill the cancer cells, explains Grivas. Two antibody-drug conjugates have shown interesting results that are being moved to larger phase II and III trials.

Antiangiogenic agents are also being evaluated, says Grivas. There is a pending trial looking at the combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin with or without the anti-VEGF agent bevacizumab (Avastin). The combination will be evaluated in the first-line setting in cisplatin-eligible patients. The trial has been going on for a while but has still not read out yet, which Grivas believes may be a result of patients’ improved survival outcomes.