For the first time in almost three decades, people with an advanced form of the most common type of bladder cancer have a new treatment option. The Food and Drug Administration recently fast tracked an immunotherapy drug designed to rev up the body’s immune system to fight the disease.
Doctors hope atezolizumab will help prolong life, delay cancer growth, and improve patients’ quality of life. Doctor Petros Grivas treats bladder cancer at Cleveland Clinic.
He says, “this is definitely a breakthrough and it’s a new paradigm of treatment particularly in the area of bladder cancer.”
Doctor Grivas says the next step is to research and identify molecular markers so doctors know who will benefit most from the new treatment.