Dr. Ravi on the Evolving Treatment Landscape of Advanced Bladder Cancer

Praful K. Ravi, MD, oncology fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the evolving treatment landscape of advanced bladder cancer.

Five years ago, the treatment of patients with advanced bladder cancer consisted only of chemotherapy options, Ravi says. Now, the paradigm includes a multitude of therapies including immunotherapy.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) are approved for use in patients with locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer, says Ravi. Moreover, pembrolizumab has demonstrated an overall survival benefit compared with chemotherapy in patients who have received platinum-based chemotherapy.

Additionally, targeted therapies with FGFR inhibitors and antibody-drug conjugates have been instrumental in expanding the landscape, Ravi explains.

In the future, personalization of therapy, as well as optimization of sequencing will be critical areas of research, concludes Ravi.