ANZUP at ASCO 2025 – PCR-MIB

Pembrolizumab (pembro) with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) as treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC): Long-term follow up of secondary endpoints of efficacy including overall survival of the PCR-MIB phase II clinical trial (ANZUP 1502)

Poster presentation by Prof Andrew Weickhardt. The PCR-MIB trial has previously shown that the combination of the immunotherapy pembrolizumab together with chemotherapy and radiation was safe and effective with results showing that 88% of participants with urothelial bladder cancer experiencing a complete response to treatment after 24 weeks and 78% of participants free of spread to distant organs at 2 years. Here Prof Weickhardt presents the results of long-term follow up of this trial. After a median of 54 months follow up, no new safety or immunotherapy related side effects were identified. At 48 months, 68% of participants were free of disease progression to distant organs and 64% were still alive. The promising results of this trial warrant further research to explore the clinical benefits of this combination in larger trials and to show that the combination is better than other standard of care treatment strategies.