Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for Bacillus Calmette-Guerin Followed by Sunitinib for the Treatment of High Risk Non-muscle Invasive Lower Urinary Tract Urothelial Carcinoma

Study Description

Brief Summary: A majority of patients with bladder cancer have disease confined to the inner lining of the bladder. Patients with high risk features (high grade tumors, tumors invading into a deeper superficial layer) are routinely treated with Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) instilled in their bladder after the tumor has been removed. While up to 55% of patients respond to BCG, failure to respond may suggest a more aggressive tumor that requires more definitive therapy with complete bladder removal. BCG is believed to work by stimulating the body's own immune system to attack tumor cells. It may also work by blocking the machinery that tumors use to grow blood vessels which fuel tumor growth. A newer oral drug, sunitinib has shown to help patients with metastatic bladder cancer by blocking new blood vessel growth (VEGF inhibition). The investigators are studying the use of BCG followed by sunitinib in patients with high risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer to evaluate the complete response (no visible evidence of tumor in the bladder) at 3 months and 6 months. The investigators will also evaluate whether there is recurrent tumor at three years.

Detailed Description: Despite a complete response of 45-55% in patients with non-muscle invasive urothelial carcinoma involving the lower urinary tract at 3 months, many patients suffer from multiple recurrences and progression in up to 1/3 of patients. While radical cystectomy is an effective local therapy for patients with high risk non-invasive disease, roughly 15% of patients will still develop progression. More importantly, the morbidity of radical cystectomy as described above represents a barrier to treatment in some individuals. Thus, there is a real need to identify newer therapies that reduce morbidity and improve outcomes in patients with non-invasive urothelial cancer. While multiple drug regimens have been the standard for many forms of cancer including invasive bladder cancer, few reports exist on multidrug regimens for non-invasive bladder cancer. The fundamentally agreed upon mechanism of action of BCG intravesical therapy for superficial bladder cancer is the generation of a non-specific immune response with the expression of cytokines by inflammatory cells resulting in tumor death. Cytokines produced by BCG therapy such as IFNα may block vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) which is expressed in superficial and invasive bladder cancer and may provide a mechanism for disease progression. Sunitinib is an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor that blocks VEGF. Recent reports demonstrate clinical response in patients with metastatic bladder cancer treated with sunitinib after recurrence following standard chemotherapeutic regimens. The addition of sunitinib following BCG in order to consolidate VEGF inhibition may result in superior 3 month complete response rates. We know that patients who have a complete response to BCG at 3 months have improved disease.

Keywords

Eligibility

Minimum Age: 18 Years

Eligible Ages: ADULT, OLDER_ADULT

Sex: ALL

Healthy Volunteers: No

Locations

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