The NHS will roll out a new treatment for advanced bladder cancer which doubles survival time.
It’s estimated that 1,250 people a year could benefit from a combination of drugs called enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab.
The first is an antibody-drug also known as Padcev, made by Astellas and Pfizer, while the latter is a PD-L1 inhibitor, also known as Keytruda, which is made by Merck.
Clinical trials suggest the combo leads to improved survival compared to platinum-based chemotherapy – increasing from an average of around 16 months to almost 34.
Researchers also found people survive for longer without their disease worsening, also known as progression-free survival – going up from six months to more than a year.
It will mark the first significant change to treatment of advanced bladder cancer since the 1980s, according to expert Professor Thomas Powels, director of Barts Cancer Institute Biomedical Research Centre (QMUL).
Around 18,000 people in England are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year.
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The new treatment was approved for NHS use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which said it was “highly promising” and could make a “tremendous difference” to people.
One patient who took part in the trial said it had given him more time with his grandson.
Martyn Hewett, 75, from Stratford, east London, said: “I feel very, very lucky, because if I hadn’t been on this trial, I imagine I would be dead by now.
“I am going to have an extra few years to see my grandson grow up – and maybe even be around to see him get married.”
