Sun Sep 15 14:40:20 UTC 2024: ## AstraZeneca’s IMFINZI Shows Promise in Extending Survival for Bladder Cancer Patients
**WILMINGTON, Del., Sept. 15, 2024** – AstraZeneca announced positive results from the NIAGARA Phase III trial, revealing that its immunotherapy drug IMFINZI® (durvalumab) significantly improved survival rates for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC).
The study, presented at the 2024 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Barcelona, Spain, showed that IMFINZI, when combined with chemotherapy both before and after surgery (radical cystectomy), reduced the risk of disease progression, recurrence, or death by 32% compared to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone. Notably, the IMFINZI regimen also reduced the risk of death by 25%.
“These are groundbreaking results,” said Professor Thomas Powles, Director of Barts Cancer Centre (QMUL) and principal investigator of the NIAGARA trial. “This is the first immunotherapy regimen to demonstrate a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival for patients with MIBC, who desperately need better outcomes.”
The study found that 82.2% of patients treated with the IMFINZI regimen were alive at two years, compared to 75.2% in the control group. This marks a significant leap forward in treating MIBC, where current standard of care often leads to high rates of recurrence.
“NIAGARA data has shown compelling improvements in both event-free survival and overall survival,” said Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca. “This further validates our strategy to bring cancer treatment as early as possible to maximize benefit for patients.”
IMFINZI was well-tolerated in the study, with no new safety signals observed. This breakthrough discovery has the potential to transform the standard of care for MIBC patients, offering new hope for a more positive future.
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