Bladder cancer patients treated with a breakthrough drug are a third less likely to see their disease return and have higher survival rates, a major new study has revealed.
The immunotherapy drug Durvalumab has shown significant promise in treating advanced bladder cancer when combined with standard chemotherapy and surgery.
The findings offer new hope to thousands of patients facing this devastating diagnosis.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Sheffield and Barts Cancer Institute, included 1,063 patients with operable bladder cancer.
Bladder cancer patients treated with a breakthrough drug are a third less likely to see their disease return
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Results showed that overall survival at two years reached 82.2 per cent in patients receiving Durvalumab, compared to 75.2 per cent in those who did not.
The final-stage phase three clinical trial demonstrated patients were 32 per cent less likely to experience cancer recurrence or progression with the immunotherapy treatment.
Professor James Catto, from the University of Sheffield, called it "a major breakthrough in the treatment of bladder cancer".
"For many years, survival rates for advanced bladder cancer have remained stagnant, but our findings offer hope to thousands of patients," he added.
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The University of Sheffield's Professor James Catto has called the clinical trial a 'major breakthrough'
UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
He said that patients did not face additional serious side effects - and hopes the treatment could be made available for NHS patients following regulatory approval.
The trial divided patients into two groups, with 530 receiving standard chemotherapy and surgery alone.
A second group of 533 patients received chemotherapy plus Durvalumab before surgery, followed by eight additional cycles of Durvalumab after surgery.
Durvalumab, marketed under the brand name Imfinzi, is currently used to treat non small cell lung cancer but is being tested for other cancers.
Professor Syed Hussain from the University of Sheffield described the survival benefit as "certainly a game changer" in bladder cancer treatment.
"We had not seen any additional survival benefit in previous trials investigating additional treatments in combination with standard of care," he added.
Prof Catto hopes the treatment could be made available for NHS patients following regulatory approval (file photo)
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Meanwhile, Queen Mary University's Professor Thomas Powles added: "We showed for the first time that the addition of immunotherapy to chemotherapy increases the rate of overall survival."
Ian Flower, a 63-year-old Sheffield resident, participated in the trial after being diagnosed with operable bladder cancer.
"I was happy to help with the trial, not just for myself but in the hope that it could help other patients," he said.
"It is nice to hear the trial received positive results and I hope it can become available for other patients," he added.
