Immunotherapy is a therapy which helps to kill the cancer cells. Immunotherapy bladder cancer treatment is the biologic therapy that is developed to boost up the human body defenses so that the patient can fight the cancer cells. The therapy helps the patients to live life for a long period of time after treatment.
Drugs used in immunotherapy bladder cancer treatment
There are many drugs which are used to cure bladder cancer. Some of the best drugs that help to cure the disease much faster are Atezolizumab (Tecentriq), Durvalumab (Imfinzi), Nivolumab (Opdivo) and also Avelumab (Bavencio).
Let’s look at these drugs in detail:
- Atezolizumab (Tecentriq)
Atezolizumab strengthens the immune system so that the cancer cells cannot attack easily. This drug is given to those patients whose condition gets worse within the treatment. Atezolizumab helps to slow down the growth rate of cancer cells in the body. - Durvalumab (Imfinzi)
This drug is very beneficial for bladder cancer patients. According to research, this drug shrinks about 17% of patient’s bladder cancer. But also there are some of the side effects of this drugs such as fatigue, muscle as well as bone pain, nausea, loss of appetite, swelling of feet, and infection in urinary tract. - Nivolumab (Opdivo)
PD-1 is a protein which makes the immune system strong and this drug target the PD-1 so that the immune system is able to fight with the cancer cells which are building in the body. The dosage of Nivolumab totally depends on cancer that how it responds to Immunotherapy. - Pembrolizumab
A fixed amount of 200 mg for every three weeks is approved to be consumed by the patient. Pembrolizumab maintains the manageable toxicity in the body. This drug is used in immunotherapy as it helps to shrink the cells of cancer and the patient starts recovering quickly if proper treatment is given to the patient.
Generally, immunotherapy might not be suggested for all the patients, as well as the treatment varies according to the patient. This therapy is also used in another treatment like surgery or in chemotherapy. Usually, the above drugs are used by the patients suffering from bladder cancer after the chemotherapy.