Bladder Cancer and Immunotherapy with Dr. Terence Friedlander

Dr. Terence Friedlander of UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center discusses the potential to further improve outcomes for patients with bladder cancer and answers questions from the audience. #CRIsummit #Immunotherapy https://www.cancerresearch.org/virtualsummit  

Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the United States and ninth most common worldwide. Immunotherapy for bladder cancer has a long history, including the first FDA-approved cancer vaccine—Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)—in 1990. 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

00:00 – Welcome from Tamron Hall
01:13 – Timeline of Bladder Cancer
11:23 – Live Q&A

At the opening of the session, Dr. Friedlander provided an overview of the history of the development of immunotherapy for bladder cancer. He pointed to the 1970 BCG vaccine, originally used to treat tuberculosis in 1970, which was the first immunotherapy used to treat and even cure bladder cancer. He then focused on a rapid phase of discovery between 2016-2018 during which a number of checkpoint inhibitors were tested in clinical trials and approved for bladder cancer patients. Going into 2019 to the present day, combinations of immunotherapy, particularly PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors, are showing great promise. Additionally, scientists are learning that giving immunotherapy after chemotherapy has, in some cases, been beneficial.

Dr. Friedlander then moved on to answer questions from the audience:
- What is a clinical trial?
- I am part of a clinical immunotherapy study so have no idea if I’m getting the drug or not. Is my data still useful if I’m not receiving the drug?
- Is there a way to predict which bladder cancer patients will have a better response to immunotherapies?
- Should I ask my doctor about genetic testing or is it done automatically?
- Is PD-L1 a common mutation? What are some of the more common mutations in bladder cancer?
- Can BCG immunotherapy cure bladder cancer beyond stage 1?
- Can a patient choose between chemotherapy and immunotherapy?
- If a patient suffers from autoimmune disease, specifically hypothyroidism and rheumatoid arthritis, is such patient a suitable candidate for immunotherapy?
- Is immunotherapy allowing patients to not need to have their bladder removed?
- How long do you need to remain on immunotherapy?
- Can immunotherapy ignite the cancer rather than train the immune system to fight the cancer?
- Are bladder cancer patients at all more susceptible to COVID-19? And do you think that cancer patients will be able to get one of the new COVID-19 vaccine?

Dr. Friedlander is chief of hematology-oncology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General and an associate professor of medicine at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He specializes in cancers of the genitourinary tract, specifically bladder and prostate cancers. Dr. Friedlander’s research is focused on understanding the basic biology of these malignancies and in developing novel therapeutic ways to treat disease. He collaborates with the UCSF Department of Urology to explore the predictive value of circulating tumor cells in these malignancies, and with the UCSF Cancer Immunotherapy Program to evaluate novel immune therapies for patients with cancer. In his clinical academic practice, he serves as principal investigator or co-investigator on a number of clinical trials in advanced prostate and bladder cancer. This collaboration spans from the bench to the bedside, with a goal to personalize and tailor therapies based on the individual patient.

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.

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  Cancer