Blood test triggers early immunotherapy in bladder cancer trial
NCT ID NCT04138628
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether starting immunotherapy earlier—based on a blood test that finds tumor DNA—can control bladder cancer that may have spread after the bladder is removed. About 154 adults whose cancer has returned or is at high risk of spreading will receive the treatment. The goal is to see if this approach leads to better outcomes than waiting for tumors to show up on scans.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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154 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Mar 2020
- Expected to finish
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Nov 2030
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * ≥18 years of age at the time of signing the Informed Consent Form * For male study subjects: agreement to remain abstinent (refrain from heterosexual intercourse) or use a condom, and agreement to refrain from donating sperm. * Signed Informed Consent Form * ECOG PS 0, 1 or 2 * Is, according to the Investigator's judgement, able to comply with the trial protocol * Ability to understand the Participant Information Sheet orally and in writing * Preoperative PET/CT of thorax, abdomen, and pelvis with no suspicion of organ metastases or lymph node metastasis\* above the aortic bifuraction * Study Subjects undergoing radical cystectomy due to histologically documented muscle invasive urothelial carcinoma (including subtypes) stage cT2-4a in the urinary bladder following NAC\*\* in cisplatin-fit Study Subjects. * Study Subjects who have undergone down-staging chemotherapy because of lymph node metastasis with no organ metastases can be included if complete response regarding lymph nodes are identified on preoperative imaging. * NAC includes Study Subjects who have stopped after one course of chemotherapy because of side effects or local non-metastatic progression Exclusion Criteria: * Subjects undergoing non-radical cystectomy for palliative reasons * Non-radical surgery estimated intraoperative * Other histology of BC than urothelial carcinoma - mixed tumours with urothelial features are allowed * Concomitant invasive cancer within 5 years other than non-melanoma skin cancer and prostate cancer without metastasis * Known contraindication to immunotherapy * A history of autoimmune disease. Study Subjects with vitiligo, type I diabetes mellitus, residual hypothyroidism due to autoimmune condition only requiring hormone replacement, psoriasis not requiring systemic treatment, or conditions not expected to recur in the absence of an external trigger are permitted to enroll. Subjects with a condition requiring systemic treatment with either corticosteroids (\> 10 mg daily prednisone equivalents) or other immunosuppressive medications within 14 days of study drug administration. Inhaled or topical steroids and adrenal replacement doses \> 10 mg daily prednisone equivalents are permitted in the absence of active autoimmune disease. * Study Subjects who meet any of the following criteria will be excluded from study entry: * History of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, organizing pneumonia (e.g., bronchiolitis obliterans), drug-induced pneumonitis, or idiopathic pneumonitis, or evidence of active pneumonitis on screening chest computed tomography (CT) scan * Treatment with systemic immunostimulatory agents (including, but not limited to, interferon and interleukin 2 \[IL-2\]) within 4 weeks or 5 drug elimination half-lives (whichever is longer) prior to initiation of study treatment * HIV positive * History of pneumonitis (History of radiation pneumonitis in the radiation field (fibrosis) is permitted. * Hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection * Subjects who have received a live, attenuated vaccine within 28 days prior to enrolment
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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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Aalborg Universitetshospital
Aalborg, 9100, Denmark
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Aarhus University Hospital
Aarhus, 8200, Denmark
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Herlev Hospital
Herlev, 2730, Denmark
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Odense Universitetshospital
Odense, 5000, Denmark
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Rigshospitalet
Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can intensified chemotherapy before surgery clear bladder tumors?
- Lab-Grown tumor organoids could pick the right bladder chemo
- Can tumor genes decide who keeps their bladder?
- Lab-Grown tumor models could match patients to the right cancer drug
- Can heated saline during bladder surgery stop tumors from coming back?
- Can a radioactive antibody light up hidden tumors on PET scans?