A newly approved drug that boosts the immune system helps stall the spread of tumors in patients with advanced bladder cancer.
Atezolizumab, which gained FDA approval last month, contains monoclonal antibodies cloned from a specific parent cell. These antibodies prevent a genetic interaction from occurring that allows cancer cells to evade immune cells.
In a recent study, researchers found that treatment stopped tumors from growing in 24 percent of advanced bladder cancer patients and, for that population, shrank tumors by 30 percent. Since 2014, 21 of the original 119 patients treated are still in remission and taking the drug.
The drug costs $12,500 a month, a price drugmakers defend due to the drug's effectiveness and cost of development.
"Atezolizumab is the first therapy to be approved in more [than] three decades for this disease, and it is the new standard of care for patients whose initial therapy with platinum-based chemotherapy drugs has failed," said Dr. Arjun Balar, MD, assistant professor at NYU Langone Medical Center. "Indeed, it may be the only therapy some patients need."
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