A new treatment for bladder cancer reduces the risk of death by more than half compared to chemotherapy for patients with advanced or metastatic malignancy.
- Trials evaluating Keytruda® in combination with Padcev® to treat patients with advanced or metastatic bladder cancer are promising.
- This treatment reduced the risk of death by more than half compared to chemotherapy and significantly prolonged overall survival by 53%.
- This represents an improvement in median overall survival of more than 15 months for patients.
In France, bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers, with around 13,100 new cases diagnosed each year. It mainly affects men, who represent 8 out of 10 patients. The survival rate of patients with this disease largely depends on the stage of the malignancy at the time of diagnosis. However, new hope has emerged for patients. The treatment Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) in association with Padcev® (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) shows very promising results in patients with carcinoma urothelial locally advanced or metastatic.
Bladder cancer metastasis : overall survival prolonged by 53 %
The Merck laboratory teams presented the results of phase 3 trials of their treatment during the Congress ofESMO which was held in Madrid from October 20 to 24, 2023. They showed that the combination Keytruda® And Padcev® offered a significant improvement in the survival of patients with bladder cancer.
In fact, the treatment reduced the risk of death by more than half compared to chemotherapy and significantly prolonged overall survival by 53%. This represents an improvement in median overall survival of more than 15 months compared to chemotherapy for patients with‘a carcinoma urothelial. These medications also provide significant improvement in survival without tumor worsening, reducing the risk of bladder cancer progression or death by 55%.
Bladder cancer: soon a new treatment option?
The molecule pembrolizumabmarketed under the name Keytruda®is a monoclonal antibody directed against protein. It works by increasing the ability of the immune system to detect and fight tumor cells. Phase 3 trials, presented in Spain, are the first to highlight its effectiveness against bladder cancer when combined with a conjugate drug antibodies as the Padcev (enfortumab vedotin). “These results, showing a 53% reduction in the risk of death for the combination compared to chemotherapy, are striking and could open a new chapter for the treatment of these patients diagnosed with advanced urothelial carcinoma, who face an urgent need for new therapies”explains Dr. Thomas Powles, principal investigator of the trial, professor of genitourinary oncology and director of the Barts Cancer Center, in a communicated.
In testing, some patients taking the combination of Keytruda® And Padcev® experienced adverse effects. The most common were peripheral sensory neuropathy, pruritus, alopecia, rash, fatigue, diarrhea, decreased appetite and nausea.
The researchers specified that the results obtained during this phase 3 trial would be used “to global regulatory and confirmatory testing submissions for the current accelerated approval in the United States of Keytruda in association with enfortumab vedotin as first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic carcinoma who are not eligible to receive cisplatin-containing chemotherapy.”
