Dr. Petrylak on Immunotherapy for Second-line Treatment in Bladder Cancer

Daniel P. Petrylak, MD, professor of medicine at Yale University Cancer Center discusses the potential for immunotherapy for the treatment of bladder cancer.

Up until recently, bladder cancer had not seen any major advancement in more than 30 years, says Petrylak. There has been no standard of care for second-line patients who failed MVAC or gemcitabine plus cisplatin.

New immune checkpoint agents such as pembrolizumab and the anti-PD-L1 antibody MPDL3280A, which was granted breakthrough therapy status from the FDA in 2014, are showing promising activity for second-line metastatic bladder cancer patients, says Petrylak.

Studies are ongoing, but interim results are exciting so far, he says. Response rates are shown at anywhere between 20-50% with immunotherapy agents. Petrylak is hopeful therapies like pembrolizumab and MPDL3280A could provide the treatment option needed for second-line patients.