Survival rates for some bladder cancer patients improved in clinical trial led by Sheffield researchers

Bladder cancer is the ninth most common form of cancer in the UK, with 17,000 new cases and 5,000 deaths in England each year. However, survival rates for bladder cancer have not improved in the UK for many years. 

A major clinical trial, led by the University, has revealed survival rates for patients with operable bladder cancer are significantly improved by adding an immunotherapy drug before and after surgery. 

Results of the phase 3 clinical trial found that patients were 32 per cent less likely to undergo surgery and experience disease progression and recurrence when treated with the drug durvalumab, in addition to routine chemotherapy and surgery, compared to those treated with chemotherapy and surgery alone. Overall survival rates were also 25 per cent higher among those treated with durvalumab.

Professor James Catto, Professor of Urology at the University of Sheffield, said: “This is a major breakthrough in the treatment of bladder cancer. For many years survival rates for advanced bladder cancer have remained stagnant. Our hope is that this treatment can be made available for NHS patients as soon as possible following regulatory approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and that it becomes the new standard of care.”