Immunotherapy for locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer

One of the abilities of our immune system is to keep itself from attacking normal cells in the body. To do this, it uses “checkpoints” – molecules on immune cells that need to be turned on (or off) to start an immune response. Cancer cells sometimes use these checkpoints to avoid being attacked by the immune system. However, newer drugs that target these checkpoints hold a lot of promise as cancer treatments.³⁸

For patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose tumor have spread and cannot be removed surgically or have disease progression after receiving chemotherapy containing platinum, medical studies have demonstrated that immune checkpoint inhibitors are effective second-line treatment options.³⁹。

There are two classes of immune checkpoint inhibitors for treating locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.³⁷。

PD-L1 Inhibitor³⁸

This type of immunotherapy target PD-L1, a protein on cells (including some cancer cells) that helps keep the immune system from attacking them. By blocking PD-L1, these drugs boost the immune response against the cancer cells. This can shrink some tumors or slow their growth.

PD-1 Inhibitor³⁸

This type of immunotherapy targets PD-1, another protein that normally helps keep the immune system in check. Blocking PD-1 can help the immune system attack the cancer cells.

All above classes of immune checkpoint inhibitors can be used in patients with advanced bladder cancer that starts growing again after chemotherapy.