Objectives: Survival outcomes of patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) are still suboptimal and strategies to enhance response to immune-oncology (IO) compounds are under scrutiny. In preclinical studies, it has been demonstrated that antihistamines may reverse macrophage immunosuppression, reactivate T cell cytotoxicity, and enhance the immunotherapy response. We aimed to evaluate the role of concomitant antihistamines administration on oncological outcomes among patients with mUC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Approximately 75% of bladder cancer cases are non-muscle invasive at diagnosis. Drug development for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) has historically lagged behind that of other malignancies. No treatment has demonstrated the ability to overcome drug resistance that ultimately leads to recurrence and progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Nadofaragene firadenovec (Ad-IFNα/Syn3) is now approved for BCG-unresponsive bladder cancer (BLCA). IFNα is a pleiotropic cytokine that causes direct tumor cell killing via TRAIL-mediated apoptosis, angiogenesis inhibition, and activation of the innate and adaptive immune system. We established an immunocompetent murine BLCA model to study the effects of murine adenoviral IFNα (muAd-Ifnα) gene therapy on cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment using a novel murine equivalent of Nadofaragene firadenovec (muAd-Ifnα).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is a critical unmet need for safe and efficacious neoadjuvant treatment for cisplatin-ineligible patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Here we launched a phase 1b study using the combination of intravesical cretostimogene grenadenorepvec (oncolytic serotype 5 adenovirus encoding granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) with systemic nivolumab in cisplatin-ineligible patients with cT2-4aN0-1M0 muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The primary objective was to measure safety, and the secondary objective was to assess the anti-tumor efficacy as measured by pathologic complete response along with 1-year recurrence-free survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The intravesical gene therapy nadofaragene firadenovec (rAd-IFNα/Syn3) was FDA approved in 2022 for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) unresponsive to frontline treatment with BCG, and the first gene therapy developed for bladder cancer. This non-replicating recombinant adenovirus vector delivers a copy of the human interferon alpha-2b gene into urothelial and tumor cells, causing them to express this pleotropic cytokine with potent antitumor effects.
Objective: To provide a historical overview describing how several decades of preclinical and clinical studies investigating the role of interferon in the treatment of bladder cancer ultimately led to the development of gene therapy with nadofaragene for NMIBC.
Muscle invasive bladder cancers (BCs) can be divided into 2 major subgroups-basal/squamous (BASQ) tumors and luminal tumors. Since Pparg has low or undetectable expression in BASQ tumors, we tested the effects of rosiglitazone, Pparg agonist, in a mouse model of BASQ BC. We find that rosiglitazone reduces proliferation while treatment with rosiglitazone plus trametinib, a MEK inhibitor, induces apoptosis and reduces tumor volume by 91% after 1 month.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe previously reported that tumors harboring any one of four gene mutations (ATM, RB1, FANCC, or ERCC2) were likely to respond to neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy (NAC), resulting in cancer-free surgical specimens at the time of cystectomy (pT0). Here, we report our validation of this finding. Using the CARIS 592 Gene Panel (Caris Life Sciences, Phoenix, AZ, USA), we analyzed 105 pre-NAC tumor specimens from a large multicenter trial (S1314) of either neoadjuvant gemcitabine and cisplatin (GC), or dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, Adriamycin, and cisplatin (DDMVAC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBladder Cancer
September 2023
Background: Despite recent drug development for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), few therapies have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and there remains an unmet clinical need. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) supply issues underscore the importance of developing safe and effective drugs for NMIBC.
Objective: On November 18-19, 2021, the FDA held a public virtual workshop to discuss NMIBC research needs and potential trial designs for future development of effective therapies.
Purpose: Nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg is a nonreplicating adenoviral vector-based gene therapy for bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive carcinoma in situ (CIS) with/without high-grade Ta/T1. We report outcomes following 5 years of planned follow-up.
Materials And Methods: This open-label phase 3 trial (NCT02773849) enrolled patients with BCG-unresponsive nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer in 2 cohorts: CIS ± Ta/T1 (CIS; n = 107) and Ta/T1 without CIS (Ta/T1 cohort; n = 50).
We describe a strategy that combines histologic and molecular mapping that permits interrogation of the chronology of changes associated with cancer development on a whole-organ scale. Using this approach, we present the sequence of alterations around RB1 in the development of bladder cancer. We show that RB1 is not involved in initial expansion of the preneoplastic clone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMulti-platform mutational, proteomic, and metabolomic spatial mapping was used on the whole-organ scale to identify the molecular evolution of bladder cancer from mucosal field effects. We identified complex proteomic and metabolomic dysregulations in microscopically normal areas of bladder mucosa adjacent to dysplasia and carcinoma . The mutational landscape developed in a background of complex defects of protein homeostasis which included dysregulated nucleocytoplasmic transport, splicesome, ribosome biogenesis, and peroxisome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The treated natural history of nonmetastatic plasmacytoid variant of bladder cancer (PV-BCa) is poorly understood owing to its rarity. We sought to examine the disease recurrence and metastasis patterns in this select group of patients in order to identify opportunities for intervention.
Materials And Methods: We conducted a natural language processing algorithm-augmented retrospective chart review of 56 consecutive patients who were treated with curative intent for nonmetastatic PV-BCa at our institution between 1998 and 2018.
Bladder cancer is a prevalent malignancy with limited therapeutic options, particularly for patients who are unresponsive to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). The approval of interferon-α (IFNα) gene therapy with nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstiladrin), the first gene therapy for genitourinary malignancies, has provided a promising alternative. This article reviews the research and milestones that led to the development and approval of nadofaragene firadenovec.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBladder cancers (BCs) can be divided into 2 major subgroups displaying distinct clinical behaviors and mutational profiles: basal/squamous (BASQ) tumors that tend to be muscle invasive, and luminal/papillary (LP) tumors that are exophytic and tend to be non-invasive. is a likely driver of LP BC and has been suggested to act as a tumor suppressor in BASQ tumors, where it is likely suppressed by MEK-dependent phosphorylation. Here we tested the effects of rosiglitazone, a agonist, in a mouse model of BBN-induced muscle invasive BC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: European Urology Association (EAU) guidelines recommend immediate radical cystectomy (early RC) for patients with very high-risk (VHR) non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) recommended only for those who refuse or are unfit for RC.
Objective: To describe oncological outcomes following BCG or early RC in a contemporary cohort of patients with VHR NMIBC (EAU criteria).
Design, Setting, And Participants: Patients diagnosed with VHR NMIBC between 2000 and 2020 were identified from our institutional NMIBC registry.
Adjuvant treatment with either chemotherapy or bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is recommended for patients with intermediate-risk (IR) non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). In this multi-institutional retrospective review, we evaluated oncological outcomes for 182 patients with IR-NMIBC treated with BCG (n = 100) or intravesical sequential gemcitabine and docetaxel (Gem/Doce; n = 82). Median follow-up was 48.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF