Exactly whom to use it in and when to use it prior to chemotherapy remain to be determined, but atezolizumab is completely changing things in bladder cancer.

— Michael O. Koch, MD

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Session moderator, Michael O. Koch, MD, Professor of Urology and Chairman of the Department of Urology at Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, described the drug as a “game-changer for metastatic disease.”

“The last [development] that was even similar to this was when the MVAC [methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, cisplatin] chemotherapy regimen first came out in the 1980s, and suddenly we had a 15% cure rate that we didn’t have before,” recalled Dr. Koch. “But that was an incredibly toxic regimen. Now we’ve got something that’s fairly nontoxic, can be used ahead of chemotherapy, and gets very durable responses in a significant percentage of patients.”

“Exactly whom to use it in and when to use it prior to chemotherapy remain to be determined, but [atezolizumab] is completely changing things in bladder cancer,” Dr. Koch concluded. “It’s a really exciting development.” ■

Disclosure: Dr. Koch reported no potential conflicts of interest.