New Bladder-Sparing cocktail aims to beat cancer without surgery
NCT ID NCT02621151
First seen Nov 01, 2025 · Last updated Jun 23, 2026 · Updated 30 times
Summary
This phase II trial tests whether adding the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to standard chemotherapy and radiation can help people with muscle-invasive bladder cancer avoid bladder removal. The study enrolls 60 patients who cannot or choose not to have surgery. The main goal is to see how many remain cancer-free in the bladder after two years.
Disclaimer
Read more
Show less
This is a summary of
the original study
.
Summaries may miss details or leave out important information. Before applying or accepting participation, make sure you have read and understood the full study. Curemydisease.com takes no responsibility whatsoever for anything missed, misunderstood, or acted upon as a result of our summary — we know it does not capture everything.
This is a summary of the original study . Summaries may miss details or leave out important information. Before applying or accepting participation, make sure you have read and understood the full study. Curemydisease.com takes no responsibility whatsoever for anything missed, misunderstood, or acted upon as a result of our summary — we know it does not capture everything.
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for MUSCLE-INVASIVE UROTHELIAL CANCER OF THE BLADDER are added.
By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use
Contacts and locations
Show contact details
Enter your email to view the contact information for this study.
By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use
Locations
-
Memorial Sloan Kettering
New York, New York, 10065, United States
-
NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center
New York, New York, 10016, United States
-
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, 60637, United States
-
University of Michigan Health System
Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, United States
-
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-7305, United States
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.
Active substance
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) combined with gemcitabine chemotherapy and radiation therapy
What this could lead to
If successful, this could offer a bladder-sparing treatment option for people with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who cannot or choose not to have bladder removal surgery.
What could go wrong
This is a phase II trial with only 60 participants, so results are preliminary. The combination therapy may cause side effects from chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy, and may not be more effective than standard treatments.
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.