BCa19: "An exciting time in bladder cancer field"
While progress in bladder cancer treatment has lagged behind other cancers in previous decades, the EAU’s BCa19 meeting comes at a time when experts are seeing the emergence of a lot of new developments, according to Prof. Peter Black (CA).
BCa19, held in Turin on 17-18 May, is set to bring together a lot of opinion leaders in bladder cancer who will be giving very practical talks and case-based discussions that will cover many aspects of BCa treatment relevant to everyday practice. Prof. Black: “This will include discussions on critical questions in the management of MIBC, such as the choice of urinary diversion and when to think about bladder preservation with radiation therapy.”
“The participant will learn about optimization of techniques for TURBT and the latest on new and old intravesical therapies, as well as an update on the thriving field on novel urine markers. The programme is packed with content relevant to the practicing urologist.”
Prof. Black lectures in the University of British Columbia Urologic Sciences Department and is Senior Research Scientist at the Vancouver Prostate Centre. He is set to give talks on new developments in non-immunological intravesical treatment, variant (aberrant) pathologies, and take part in the case discussions and panel discussions that make up a significant part of the scientific programme. He is a regular participant in the Annual EAU Meeting.
- Online registration for BCa19 remains open until May 9th.
Current developments in BCa treatment
Prof. Black is of the opinion that while progress in bladder cancer research and treatment has lagged behind other cancers for the past decades, urologists are now seeing the emergence of a lot of new developments.
“The biggest development has been the huge leap in our understanding of the biology of bladder cancer, which provides such an important framework for all other new developments. For example, we can now classify bladder cancer into different subtypes based on RNA expression, and this has potential implications for risk stratification and treatment. Also, we have discovered that mutations in DNA damage repair genes predict response to chemotherapy, which is likely to become an important test clinically.”
“The biggest clinical advance has been the introduction of immune checkpoint blockade for the treatment of metastatic and locally-advanced bladder cancer. Finally we have an effective second line therapy. Although only about 20% of patients respond, this is often a durable response. These agents are now being tested across the disease spectrum, including in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.”
“The third big development is the increase in clinical trial activity with novel agents in the NMIBC setting. Several drugs are in late phase trials and we are likely to have one of more new drugs available within the next year or two. This includes drugs like nadofaragene firadenovec (Adstilidrin) and oportuzumab monatox (ViciniumTM).”
BCa19
BCa19 is part of the EAU’s Onco-Urology Update series, together with PCa19 and RCC19. These meetings are co-organised with the European School of Urology and offer delegates a compact and complete annual update on the latest treatment options. Pre- and post-meeting testing, interactive case discussions and expert faculty give these meetings a strong educational character. Online registration remains open until May 9th.
In addition to the two-day scientific programme, delegates are also invited to join a separate, pre-meeting live surgery programme at the Molinette Hospital, free of charge. You can register for the live programme separately.