New bladder cancer treatment cuts risk of recurrence by almost half
A new treatment for bladder cancer trialled at Barts Health could help patients live longer and reduce the chances of their disease returning, researchers have said.
The treatment, which combines two cancer drugs with surgery, was shown to cut the risk of the cancer coming back, getting worse or causing death by almost half in a major international clinical trial.
Doctors say the findings are relevant for patients who are unable to receive, or choose not to receive, standard chemotherapy, a group who currently have limited treatment options and face a high risk of their cancer returning.
The study focused on people with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, a form of the disease that has grown into the bladder wall and is typically treated with surgery to remove the bladder.
Researchers found that patients who received the drugs durvalumab and enfortumab vedotin before surgery, followed by durvalumab afterwards, had significantly better outcomes than those had surgery alone.
After two years, more than three-quarters (78%) of patients receiving the new treatment were still alive, compared with around two-thirds (69%) of those receiving standard care. This translates to a reduced risk of death by 42%.
Professor Thomas Powles, chair of the Barts Cancer Centre and the trial's international coordinating investigator, said the results had the potential to change the standard of care in clinical practice.
He said: "Patients who cannot receive standard chemotherapy have historically faced poor outcomes, even after major surgery.
"These results show that this new treatment approach can help more patients live longer and reduce the chances of their cancer returning, with side effects that can be managed."
Bladder cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide, with more than 600,000 people diagnosed each year. Around one in four patients have muscle-invasive disease.
Up to half of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer are unable to receive standard chemotherapy, often because of kidney problems or other health conditions, leaving them with fewer treatment options.
The VOLGA trial, sponsored by AstraZeneca, involved 182 hospitals in 25 countries, including eight patients from Barts Health. These results are from an early review of the findings, carried out once enough patients had been followed up. The trial is continuing to test another experimental arm where a third medicine is included, and the results will be shared in due course.
The treatment is not yet licensed in the UK for this type of cancer, nor is it approved for routine use on the NHS. Anyone with questions about their own treatment should speak to their cancer care team.
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