An immunotherapy drug called avelumab has been shown to significantly improve survival in patients with the most common type of bladder cancer, according to the results of a phase III clinical trial led by Professor Tom Pauls of Queen Mary University of London and Barts Cancer Center.

This is the first time that immunotherapy offers a survival advantage in bladder cancer and could potentially benefit thousands of patients a year..

The results will be presented at a plenary session at the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the world's largest annual cancer conference (ASCO20). They found that avelumab reduced the risk of dying from bladder cancer by 31% and increased median survival for advanced bladder cancer by more than seven months..

Approximately 550,000 new cases of bladder cancer are diagnosed each year (10,200 of which in the UK), making it the tenth most common cancer in the world. This study focused on a group of patients whose cancer has spread outside the bladder (late or stage 4 disease) that is difficult to treat..

Chemotherapy is the current initial standard of care for these common cancers.. After chemotherapy is over, patients are checked regularly because the cancer tends to come back quickly.. When it returns, it is difficult to treat and the results are poor..

A global phase III trial called JAVELIN Bladder 100 and funded by Pfizer and Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany evaluated the efficacy of the immunotherapy drug avelumab in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer that they received after initial chemotherapy..

After completion of chemotherapy, a total of 700 patients from more than 200 sites worldwide were divided into two treatment groups: one group received regular check-ups (standard treatment) on their own, and the other received avelumab in addition to standard treatment..

Treatment with avelumab resulted in a 31% reduction in the risk of death and a median survival of 21.4 months compared to 14.3 months in patients who did not receive the drug.. Side effects were as expected with immunotherapy, and 11 percent of patients discontinued avelumab due to treatment problems.

Study leader Thomas Pouls, professor of genitourinary oncology at Queen Mary University of London and director of Barts Health Cancer Centre, NHS Trust Barts, said:.

We have seen a significant reduction in the risk of death and a significant overall survival benefit with avelumab, highlighting the potential for changing this immunotherapy for patients.. This highlights the potential benefits of a maintenance approach with avelumab in patients to prolong their lives after chemotherapy.”.

Avelumab is a type of immunotherapy known as a checkpoint inhibitor that blocks the PD-L1 protein on the surface of tumor cells.. When PD-L1 is active, it helps the cancer hide from the immune system.. By blocking PD-L1, the immune system finds it easier to identify and kill cancer.

medical-heal. en.