Bladder cancer affects about 80,000 people in the U.S. each year, most often appearing after age 65. Standard treatment includes surgery, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Many bladder cancers recur after initial treatment, which means ongoing surveillance and sometimes repeated procedures.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing checkpoint inhibitors, antibody-drug conjugates like enfortumab vedotin, gene therapies delivered directly into the bladder, and combination regimens that may work better than chemotherapy alone. Researchers are also studying ways to predict which tumors will recur and which patients need more aggressive treatment upfront.
Antibody-drug conjugates
These drugs deliver chemotherapy directly to cancer cells. Enfortumab vedotin was FDA-approved in 2019 for advanced bladder cancer and is now being tested earlier in treatment and in combinations.
Checkpoint inhibitors
Drugs like pembrolizumab and nivolumab help the immune system attack bladder cancer. Trials are testing them before surgery, after surgery, and in combination with other treatments.
Gene therapy
Treatments delivered directly into the bladder aim to trigger immune responses or deliver cancer-killing genes. These may offer alternatives to surgery for early-stage disease.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on cancer stage, whether the tumor has invaded muscle, prior treatments, and genetic markers like PD-L1 expression.
What types of trials are currently open
- Immunotherapy trials — Testing checkpoint inhibitors and other immune-based treatments, often before or after surgery, or in combination with chemotherapy.
- Drug combination trials — Studies pairing antibody-drug conjugates, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy to see if combinations work better than single treatments.
- Bladder-preserving trials — Testing treatments that might avoid bladder removal surgery, including gene therapy and radiation combined with chemotherapy.
- Biomarker studies — Identifying genetic markers that predict which bladder cancers will recur or respond to specific treatments.
- Recurrence prevention trials — Testing treatments given after surgery to reduce the chance of cancer coming back.
Recently added Bladder Cancer trials
EV + Toripalimab vs GC as Neoadjuvant Therapy in Locally Advanced/High-Risk MIBC
The purpose of this Phase II, open-label, multicenter, randomized controlled study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Enfortumab Vedotin in combination with Toripalimab compared to Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin. This regimen is evaluated as a neoadjuvant treatment for patients with locally advanced or high-risk muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to one of two cohorts. Cohort A will receive Enfortumab Vedotin and Toripalimab for 3 treatment cycles. Cohort B will receive Gemcitabine and Cisplatin for 3 treatment cycles. Following the neoadjuvant treatment phase, patients will undergo radical cystectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection. The primary endpoint of the study is the 1-year Event-Free Survival (EFS) rate. Secondary endpoints include pathological downstaging rate (pDR), pathological complete response (pCR), Disease-Free Survival (DFS), Overall Survival (OS), and the assessment of adverse events. Additionally, the study will evaluate the relationship between treatment efficacy and the expression of PD-L1 and Nectin-4 in tumor tissues.
A Study of a Side Effects and Resource Navigation Program for People With Cancer
The purpose of this study is to find out if the navigation program helps participants manage immunotherapy treatment better than usual care. Investigators will also look at how the navigation program impacts participants' quality of life. Investigators will measure quality of life by having participants complete questionnaires.
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