A. Edward Yen, MD, presented “Immunotherapy For Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer” virtually during the Innovations in Urologic Practice 2020 virtual conference in September 2020.
How to cite: Yen, A. Edward. “Immunotherapy For Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer” September 26th, 2020. Accessed Apr 2024. https://grandroundsinurology.com/immunotherapy-for-muscle-invasive-bladder-cancer/
Summary:
A. Edward Yen, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Hematology and Oncology Section at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, discusses the findings of recent immunotherapy trials for muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). He explains that cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy combinations are the current standard of care for MIBC and can provide a significant overall survival benefit, but 40 to 50% of patients are not eligible for cisplatin to begin with, and only 20% of those eligible patients actually receive cisplatin, which suggests that there are major therapeutic gaps that immunotherapies could potentially fill. Dr. Yen goes into depth on the findings of the phase II PURE-01 study of pembrolizumab, the phase II ABACUS study of atezolizumab, and the phase I NABUCCO study of nivolumab/ipilimumab, observing that all three therapies produced good responses and appeared to be correlated to different biomarkers from one another. He concludes by predicting that neoadjuvant immunotherapy will become standard of care for cisplatin-ineligible patients, but he also stresses that future studies should include higher-risk patients and should focus on predictive biomarkers.
About the Innovations in Urologic Practice 2020 virtual conference:
Presented by co-chairs Mohit Khera, MD, MBA, MPH, and Michael Coburn, MD, FACS, the Innovations in Urologic Practice conference provides a detailed review and commentary on multiple genitourinary and urologic diseases. Among the featured oncological topics are bladder cancer and immunotherapies, as well as upper tract cancer management, prostate cancer, including state-of-the-art imaging, focal therapy, and MRI. Experts also discuss new tools and techniques for nephrectomy and treating advanced renal cell carcinoma. In terms of general urological approaches, the conference also includes pelvic reconstruction and trauma, men’s health topics like male infertility and sexual dysfunction, and ways to diagnose and treat infections in the urology patient. Dr. Yen presented this talk virtually at this year’s conference.
