Combination of Chemo and Immunotherapy Is Shown to Work Against Metastatic Bladder Cancer
A clinical trial led by Mount Sinai researchers has showed for the first time that combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy can slow down metastatic bladder cancer. The trial also showed that immunotherapy alone may be an option for a subset of patients with metastatic bladder cancer if their tumor expresses a high level of a protein called PD-L1 according to the study, published in The Lancet in May.
This randomized, Phase 3 clinical trial, named IMvigor130, measured 1,213 patients’ response to chemotherapy—either gemcitabine plus cisplatin or gemcitabine plus carboplatin—and the immunotherapy drug atezolizumab versus chemotherapy alone or atezolizumab alone.
“This is the first study to show that combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy significantly delays progression of metastatic bladder cancer compared with chemotherapy alone, and the first randomized study to contextualize the use of immunotherapy alone as a first-line treatment option for patients with metastatic bladder cancer based on expression of the PD-L1 protein,” said lead author Matthew Galsky, MD, Co-Director of the Center of Excellence for Bladder Cancer at The Tisch Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The trial data has already changed whether doctors use immunotherapy or chemotherapy alone for a subset of patients by screening patients to see the level of PD-L1 present in their tumors. The trial may support using the combination of chemotherapy with immunotherapy as a standard treatment for metastatic bladder cancer once final results are available.
This trial was sponsored by F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Genentech.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.
As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.
Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.
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