A new drug is giving hope to bladder cancer patients by harnessing their own immune systems to attack tumors.
Diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2010, Lee Eric Newton underwent chemotherapy, but the cancer spread to his brain. With few options, the 51-year-old found a trial of a new immunotherapy drug and it began to shrink his tumors.
Dr. Matt Galsky is the Director of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where the drug Atezolizumab is undergoing clinical trials. He says the medication tears down the protective layers around the tumors.
“What these drugs do, ” he says, “is peel back that shield and allow the immune system to recognize the cancer is foreign and attack it.”
It’s the first new treatment for metastatic bladder cancer in 30 years. It doesn’t work for everyone but Newton’s been on the drug for more than a year now. His cancer is stable and he’s looking to the future.
Atezolizumab is not currently approved to treat bladder cancer but the FDA recently granted it ‘Breakthrough Therapy’ designation to get it approved faster. Common side effects of the drug include fatigue and small rashes.