Atezolizumab offers survival benefit for ctDNA+ bladder cancer patients

Researchers of the Phase III IMvigor010 trial have found that Tecentriq® (atezolizumab) offers survival benefit to post-surgery bladder cancer patients with circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). The benefits included significantly higher disease-free survival and overall survival in these patients. ctDNA is composed of DNA fragments that circulate in the blood after being shed from cancerous cells and tumors. Patients with these fragments present in their blood are considered ctDNA positive and are at increased risk of relapse. ctDNA is also a promising, minimally invasive biomarker but requires tumor specific gene sequencing for each patient. The time consuming and expensive nature of...