ASCO 2022 | Maintenance therapy for bladder cancer

Joaquim Bellmunt, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, discusses clinical trials focusing on the treatment of bladder cancer in the maintenance setting. The Phase II MAJA study compared vinflunine with best supportive care maintenance therapy versus best supportive care alone in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma responsive to chemotherapy. The MAJA trial demonstrated a benefit in progression-free survival (PFS) with vinflunine, however was insufficiently powered to show a significant overall-survival (OS) advantage with vinflunine, although a survival benefit was observed. Currently the only clinical trial demonstrating a statistically significant benefit to OS is the Phase III JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial (NCT02603432) which showed maintenance with avelumab held an advantage over best supportive care. This interview took place at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2022 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL.