University of Sheffield researchers make bladder cancer treatment ‘breakthrough’ 

A clinical trial led by the University of Sheffield has made a “breakthrough” discovery.

It found that adding an immunotherapy drug to operable bladder cancer treatment plans improves outcomes. 

Researchers from the University of Sheffield and Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary, University of London have found that adding an immunotherapy drug called durvalumab to bladder cancer treatment plans – both before and after surgery – improves the outcomes when compared to routine chemotherapy and surgery alone. 

The third phase of the study involved 1,063 patients with operable bladder cancer and found that patients were 32 per cent less likely to experience disease progression, recurrence, or death when treated with durvalumab as well as routine treatments. 

Survival rates for patients in the trial were 25 per cent higher for those treated with durvalumab. The researchers from the University of Sheffield have said the drug could reduce the recurrence of operable bladder cancer by a third.

Professor James Catto has described the trial outcome as a “major breakthrough” for bladder cancer treatment: “For many years survival rates for advanced bladder cancer have remained stagnant, but our findings offer hope to thousands of patients who face this devastating diagnosis.”

Bladder cancer is the 9th most common cause of cancer death in the UK – accounting for 3 per cent of all cancer deaths between 2017 and 2019. 

Due to the high recurrence rate and invasiveness of the monitoring needed, bladder cancer has the highest lifetime treatment costs per patient of any cancer. 

Most Read

The niche logistic details of how Bonnie Blue managed to sleep with 1,057 men in 12 hours

Hang on, how close are the Kardashians’ and Jenners’ houses to the Los Angeles fires?

Tommy Fury just revealed the REAL reason he split from Molly-Mae and it’s so sad

Professor Catto added: “Patients treated with durvalumab before and after surgery had both significantly higher survival rates and lower risks of the cancer returning and didn’t face any additional serious side effects. This is important for patients undergoing chemotherapy and its numerous and often debilitating side effects.

“Our hope is that this treatment can be made available for NHS patients as soon as possible following regulatory approval by the MHRA, and that it becomes the new standard of care.”

Featured image from Edward Jenner on Pexels