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The University of Sheffield, UK, has announced study results for its trial into the survival rates of patients with operable bladder cancer, finding that those who have immunotherapy before and after the surgery have significantly improved rates of survival.

The international phase 3 study NIAGARA was funded and led by AstraZeneca, and included teams from the University of Sheffield and Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London, UK. The study included 1,063 patients with operable bladder cancer and found they were 32% less likely to experience disease progression, recurrence, not undergoing surgery or death when treated with durvalumab in addition to routine chemotherapy (cisplatin and gemcitabine) paired with surgery, compared with chemotherapy and surgery alone.

Professor Syed Hussain, professor and honorary consultant of Medical Oncology at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and principal investigator of the trial, said:

“These are exciting times in the management of muscle invasive bladder cancer. We had not seen any additional survival benefit in previous trials investigating additional treatments in combination with standard-of-care cisplatin-based chemotherapy before surgery. This clinical trial combining immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab with standard-of-care chemotherapy was one of the largest perioperative chemotherapy trials done so far and with the magnitude of survival benefit seen will certainly be a game changer. By bringing these exciting new treatments earlier in the disease pathway we will continue to see more patients being cured of muscle invasive bladder cancer.”