Clinical Trial Offers Alternative to Radical Bladder Cancer Surgery and Chemotherapy

Groundbreaking Trial Will Evaluate Medications That May Avoid Radical Treatment

Researchers at Hackensack University Medical Center are recruiting patients with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) to participate in a clinical trial to study the efficacy of a combination of the local (intravesical) chemotherapy medication gemcitabine and systemic immunotherapy medication pembrolizumab.

Select patients with NMIBC that does not respond to BCG — a decades-old, first-line immunotherapy for bladder cancer — need to have radical bladder removal surgery and chemotherapy, which can impact quality of life.

“Our goal with this study is to determine the response rate to these two medications and determine if we can avoid radical treatment,” said Nitin K. Yerram, M.D., co-director of Urologic Oncology and director of Urologic Research. “This is teamwork at its best — urologists working with oncologists to provide an alternative to radical therapy that has the potential to be a real game-changer.”

As a comprehensive bladder cancer center, Hackensack University Medical Center offers a full range of bladder cancer treatment options, including the latest medical therapies and single and multiport robotic surgery. With the addition of this bladder cancer clinical trial, the urology team is building on its outstanding national and international reputation as a hub for genitourinary cancer research in collaboration with other academic medical centers.

Learn more about urology advancements happening at Hackensack University Medical Center.