Bladder Cancer and Immunotherapy with Dr. Arjun Balar

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07/08/23

Dr. Arjun Balar, director of the Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, discusses common mutations in bladder cancer, length of treatment, and the potential to further improve outcomes for patients with this disease. #blcsm #CRIsummit #immunotherapy https://summit.cancerresearch.org/

00:00- Tamron Hall introduces Dr. Arjun Balar
00:19- Dr. Balar discusses bladder cancer and immunotherapy
09:05- Brian Brewer leads a Q&A from the audience with Dr. Balar

Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the United States and ninth most common worldwide. While the FDA approved the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) cancer vaccine in 1990 for the treatment of superficial, non-invasive bladder cancer, oncologists today are excited about a new class of immunotherapies called immune checkpoint inhibitors. New immunotherapies have significantly reduced the risk of recurrence for bladder cancer while also increasing the percentage of patients who see a complete response post-surgery. https://www.cancerresearch.org..../Immunotherapy/Cance

Questions from the audience for Dr. Balar:
- What has been learned to date about how to better screen bladder cancer patients to determine who will have a better response to immunotherapy trial drugs?
- Is there any success in treating people with reoccurrences?
- Can a patient choose between chemotherapy and immunotherapy? Can you do both at the same time?
- If one immunotherapy does not work, can you try it in combination with another type of cancer treatment, like chemotherapy, to see if it works better?
- How can a vaccine that protects people from TB play a role in cancer treatment? Can BCG immunotherapy cure bladder cancer beyond stage 1?
- Is it possible to develop resistance to immunotherapy?

Dr. Arjun Balar is the director of the genitourinary medical oncology program at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center and is an assistant professor in the department of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine. He currently oversees outpatient clinical services for patients with prostate, kidney, bladder, and testicular cancers. His areas of research include bladder cancer, immunotherapy, and molecularly targeted therapy, with a specific focus on cisplatin-ineligible patients in the hopes of identifying better-tolerated and more effective therapies in advanced and invasive/high-grade urothelial cancer. Findings from Dr. Balar’s research have led to accelerated FDA approval of two drugs for advanced bladder cancer: pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) and atezolizumab (TECENTRIQ®).

The 2021 CRI Virtual Immunotherapy Patient Summit is part of the Cancer Research Institute's Answer to Cancer Patient Education Program. It was offered free of charge, connecting cancer patients and caregivers with scientific and medical experts. This year’s Summit highlighted the growing implications of immunotherapy for more than 10 cancer types, provided education on the basics of immunotherapy and how clinical trials work, and addressed cancer care disparities. https://www.cancerresearch.org..../en-us/patients/immu

Established in 1953, the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to harnessing our immune system’s power to control and potentially cure all cancers. Our mission: Save more lives by fueling the discovery and development of powerful immunotherapies for all types of cancer. To accomplish this, we rely on donor support and collaborative partnerships to fund and carry out the most innovative clinical and laboratory research around the world, support the next generation of the field’s leaders, and serve as the trusted source of information on immunotherapy for cancer patients and their caregivers. https://www.cancerresearch.org

Cancer Research Institute is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit under EIN 13-1837442. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable under the law.