In December 2019, three months after his retirement, Paul Goodfellow received a diagnosis of invasive cancer of the bladder. He received three cycles of chemotherapy and then major surgery that not only removed the cancer but also his bladder. Paul reports that for one year all his scans were clear.
However, in the latter half of 2021, Paul was told that his cancer had spread. In desperation, Paul agreed to endure several rounds of chemotherapy that would possibly stop the spread albeit for a short time. Since there appeared to be no other option, Paul was prepared to begin the treatment.
About the same time Paul received a call from a Specialist Nurse who had attended to him while he recovered from surgery. The Nurse told him about a clinical trial being conducted at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and asked if he would like to learn more about it. Paul recalled that he “jumped” at the chance and joined the trial.
Paul has now been receiving the new drug combination for twenty-two months. Within three months after starting the new drugs Paul was elated to learn that he has had an eighty percent response rate. He said that although his cancer has not disappeared completely, it is no longer spreading.
When the life expectancy due to a disease is about one year and the treatment for the disease remains the same for over forty years, then it is time for a change.
According to researchers at the Queen Mary, University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust, a clinical trial (EV302) is investigating a new combination of drugs that conclusively doubles overall survival for bladder cancer patients whose cancer had spread (metastasized).
The study’s findings were presented recently at the 2023 ESMO conference.
About EV302
Approximately 900 participants joined the study with the goal of finding a new treatment that would improve the survival rate for metastasized bladder cancer patients.
The EV-302 trial (NCT04223856) is an open-label, randomized, controlled Phase 3 study, that is investigating the impact of treatment with enfortumab vedotin combined with pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy alone. Participants have been diagnosed with previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer and regardless of PD-L1 status were eligible for cisplatin- or carboplatin-containing chemotherapy
His future looks a little brighter. Paul Goodfellow likes to tell people that he is feeling well and walking about three miles a day. He and his wife enjoy campervan trips and are accompanied by their children and grandchildren.
