Immunotherapy May Protect Against Bladder Removal With Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

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By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, Senior Medical Editor, B. Pharm. Last updated on May 6, 2026.

via HealthDay

WEDNESDAY, May 6, 2026 -- Pembrolizumab combined with gemcitabine-based chemoradiation is feasible and effective in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), according to a brief report published online April 6 in European Urology.

Minas P. Economides, M.D., from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues evaluated the safety and efficacy of adding pembrolizumab to standard trimodality therapy among patients with MIBC in a single-arm phase 2 study. The study enrolled 54 patients receiving one dose of pembrolizumab followed by maximal transurethral resection, then definitive bladder radiation with concurrent low-dose gemcitabine and pembrolizumab every three weeks for three doses.

The researchers found that two-year bladder-intact disease-free survival was 60 percent. At two years, metastasis-free survival was 81 percent and overall survival was 83 percent. One-fourth of patients had grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events.

"Our study provides the largest evidence to date that pembrolizumab, when combined with standard chemotherapy and radiation, can safely and effectively be used in combination with surgery, to preserve the bladder in those with bladder cancer that has spread to the surrounding muscles," Economides said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, which manufactures pembrolizumab and funded the study.

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Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2026-05-07 02:42

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