Aim: This study assessed physician-reported treatment patterns for metastatic bladder cancer. Materials & methods: A total of 106 USA-based physicians were surveyed in 2020 using the CancerMPact® online survey. Results: Among cisplatin-eligible patients, 86.1% received first-line (1L) platinum-containing chemotherapy, most commonly cisplatin plus gemcitabine, and 9.8% received immune checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy. Among cisplatin-ineligible patients, 46.5% received 1L platinum-containing chemotherapy, most commonly carboplatin plus gemcitabine and 46.2% received 1L immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Approximately 44% of patients who received 1L treatment received second-line (2L) therapy after progression. Conclusion: Platinum-containing chemotherapy was the most widely reported 1L treatment approach. A high proportion of patients received no 2L therapy. Validation in an updated dataset is warranted following the practice-changing approvals of avelumab 1L maintenance and additional 2L options.
Keywords: US; bladder cancer; chemotherapy; cisplatin eligible; cisplatin ineligible; immunotherapy; metastatic; physician-reported outcomes; survey; treatment patterns.
In 2020, researchers surveyed 106 US doctors about how they treated people with advanced bladder cancer. Cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug, was the most common first treatment that was given to patients with advanced bladder cancer. For people who were unable to receive cisplatin, doctors preferred to prescribe a similar chemotherapy drug called carboplatin or an immunotherapy drug. Immunotherapies help the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells. Most people treated by the surveyed doctors did not receive a second treatment if their cancer got worse. New treatments are now available for bladder cancer, such as the immunotherapy, avelumab. Avelumab is given after chemotherapy to try and stop the cancer from getting worse or coming back. More research is needed to further understand how bladder cancer is treated.