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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Using immunotherapy immediately after chemotherapy treatment in patients with metastatic bladder cancer significantly slowed the progression of the cancer, according to results of a clinical trial led by Mount Sinai researchers published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in April.
The study is the first to show that this approach to therapy, called switch maintenance immunotherapy, significantly slows the worsening of a type of bladder cancer called urothelial cancer. The randomized Phase 2 trial tested this treatment in 108 patients.
The trial tested an immunotherapy known as pembrolizumab after patients were treated with platinum-based chemotherapy in one group of patients and used a placebo after the same type of chemotherapy in a second group. The time until the cancer progressed was approximately 60 percent longer for the pembrolizumab group compared with the control group.
“This trial, along with another recent study testing a similar approach, bolster the use of switch maintenance treatment, which will likely become a standard of care for metastatic urothelial cancer, a disease characterized by a paucity of advances in decades,” said lead author Matthew Galsky, MD, Co-Director of the Center of Excellence for Bladder Cancer at Mount Sinai.
Merck and The Tisch Cancer Institute provided funding for this trial.
About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City’s largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality care—from prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report’s “Honor Roll” of the Top 20 Best Hospitals in the country and the Icahn School of Medicine as one of the Top 20 Best Medical Schools in country. Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are consistently ranked regionally by specialty and our physicians in the top 1% of all physicians nationally by U.S. News & World Report.
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