Dr. Drake Discusses Immunotherapy Agents in Bladder Cancer

Charles G. Drake, MD, PhD, director of Genitourinary Oncology, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center and co-director of Columbia’s Cancer Immunotherapy Programs, discusses immunotherapy agents in bladder cancer.

Currently, there are 4 immunotherapy agents that have data in bladder cancer: 2 PD-L1 antibodies—atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and durvalumab—and 2 PD-1 antibodies, which are nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda).

Drake says that these 4 drugs look very similar in terms of response rates and adverse events. Some suggest that anti—PD-L1 might be better tolerated, Drake adds, but those opinions are based on cross-trial comparisons.