SMH participates in global bladder cancer treatment clinical trial

Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute is participating in two clinical trials investigating potential non-surgical options for patients with early-stage bladder cancer.

Known as non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), it accounts for 70% to 80% of all bladder cancers. It can be difficult to treat due to high rates of recurrence and progression, often leading to surgeries that can significantly impact quality of life.

Some patients with high-grade NMIBC do not respond to current treatments. To help identify new, more effective, non-surgical options, the research team is participating in the ABLE-22 and ABLE-32 trials, sponsored by Ferring Pharmaceuticals.

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Led locally by Dr. Robert Carey, a urologist with Sarasota Memorial’s First Physicians Group and the Brian D. Jellison Cancer Institute, both studies are investigating a potential therapy for patients with NMIBC. The treatment uses a non-replicating virus to deliver a gene into the bladder’s cancer cells, which instructs the cells to make a protein that can help the body fight the cancer. The protein boosts the immune system to find and attack cancer cells, slows the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors and helps kill cancer cells directly.

The ABLE-32 trial for patients with intermediate-risk NMIBC will enroll up to 250 patients at 100 to 150 sites in Europe and North America. Eligible participants for this study must be at least 18 years of age and be diagnosed with intermediate risk NMIBC.

The ABLE-22 trial for patients with high-risk NMIBC will enroll up to 454 patients at approximately 120 sites in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. Eligible participants must be at least 18 years of age, be diagnosed with high-grade NMIBC with CIS, and have received and not responded to at least two courses of BCG immunotherapy.

“These trials offer potential non-surgical options for patients with NMIBC that could help preserve quality of life and avoid the life-altering impact of radical cystectomy,” said Carey in a news release.

For more information or to determine eligibility, contact the SMH research team at 941-917-2225 or [email protected].