Bladder Cancer

The combination of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab induced responses in a quarter of patients with urothelial carcinoma, according to the results of a small study presented at the 2019 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium. The immunotherapy/targeted therapy combination also demonstrated a manageable toxicity profile.

Bempegaldesleukin, a novel interleukin-2 therapy, showed promising activity when combined with nivolumab in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma who were cisplatin ineligible or refused standard therapy, according to preliminary data from the PIVOT-02 study.

According to findings from an open-label, single-arm phase I/II basket study presented during the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, 14 of 45 patients with relapsed/refractory metastatic urothelial cancer demonstrated an objective response to sacituzumab govitecan, for an objective response rate of 31.1%.

Petros Grivas, MD, PhD, discusses the rapidly evolving locally advanced and metastatic bladder cancer field.

Jonathan L. Wright, MD, MS, FACS, highlighted the available therapies for patients with localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Arjun V. Balar, MD, discusses a few approaches for incorporating immunotherapy treatments into the frontline for patients with bladder cancer.

General Cancer

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with a dose-dense, or accelerated, course of methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin was more likely to produce a complete pathologic response and extend overall survival than any other chemotherapy regimen in patients with bladder cancer treated with cystectomy, according to a study published in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.

Joaquim Bellmunt, MD, PhD, shares his recommendation in how to manage the side effects of immunotherapy as a monotherapy, particularly PD-1/PD-L1, in patients with bladder cancer.

This week the FDA granted a fast track designation to the novel targeted therapy vofatamab for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who harbor an <em>FGFR3 </em>alteration, according to Rainier Therapeutics, the company developing vofatamab.

Joaquim Bellmunt, MD, PhD, discusses recent immunotherapy advancements in bladder cancer and what future research will look like.

UroGen has announced topline findings from the&nbsp;ongoing phase III OLYMPUS trial, in which the investigational mitomycin formulation UGN-101 (mitomycin gel) demonstrated a 57% complete response rate in patients with&nbsp;low-grade upper-tract urothelial cancer.

Joaquim Bellmunt, MD, PhD, discusses the impact of immunotherapy compared to chemotherapy as treatment of patients with bladder cancer.

A randomized phase II trial found that both fluorouracil plus cisplatin and twice-daily radiation and gemcitabine plus once-daily radiation achieved freedom from distant metastasis at 3 years in at least 75% of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Thomas Powles, MBBS, MRCP, MD,&nbsp;discusses recent changes to the frontline landscape of bladder cancer and where research should focus moving forward.

Since&nbsp;2016, the FDA has approved 5 immune checkpoint inhibitors to treat urologic cancers. Although that is unquestionably a good thing for patients, the rise of these agents means that the role of the urologist in cancer care is changing, said Noah M. Hahn, MD, during the 2018 Large Urology Group Practice Association Annual Meeting.

In this editorial note from Arjun V. Balar, MD, he discusses how the KEYNOTE-57 findings have impacted the treatment landscape for&nbsp;Bacillus Calmette-Gu&eacute;rin&mdash;refractory, high-risk nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer.

Patients with metastatic renal and urothelial bladder cancer who receive antibiotics concomitantly with immune checkpoint inhibitors have shorter progression-free survival and&nbsp;overall survival rates than patients who do not, according to a poster presented at the European Congress on Immunotherapies in Cancer&trade; conference, hosted by Physicians&rsquo; Education Resource&reg;, LLC, September 21 and 22, 2018, in Barcelona, Spain.

CheckMate-032 investigator Jonathan E. Rosenberg, MD, discusses extended follow-up findings from the trial,&nbsp;as well as the future of immunotherapy in urothelial carcinoma.

Petros Grivas, MD, PhD, discusses recent immunotherapy advancements in bladder cancer and ongoing research in the field.

Arjun V. Balar, MD, discusses some combinations currently being investigated in clinical trials for patients with bladder cancer.

Ronald de Wit, MD, PhD, discusses&nbsp;the clinical implications of pembrolizumab in patients with&nbsp;nonmuscle&ndash;invasive bladder cancer.