Health Canada’s recent approval of adjuvant (applied after surgery) Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in high-risk invasive cancer of the bladder saw patients remain free of cancer in double the current standard, according to Cancer Network.

Overview

A study found that adjuvant Keytruda to treat high-risk, muscle-invasive bladder cancer increased the median time patients remained cancer-free after surgery. The time was doubled from 14.2 to 29.6 months.  Although some side effects did occur, such as underactive thyroid, diarrhea, and fatigue, it was reported that the treatment was generally well tolerated.

In addition, the research team decided that PD-L1 status need not be used to determine whether the patient should receive the therapy because benefits were derived in both PD-L1 positive as well as PD-L1 negative tumors. This is an option to the standard approach of cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

An Alternative Option

Muscle invasive bladder cancer is present when the tumor grows into the bladder wall. The standard treatment is to surgically remove the entire bladder thus eliminating cancer cells that may have spread.

The study was led by the NCI and offers a new treatment option to prevent recurrence in high-risk patients with bladder cancer.

The study offers an option to extend the length of time patients can live, thereby improving their quality of life.

After a follow-up of almost four years, patients in the Keytruda group were free of cancer according to Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival at 31.9%.