ESMO 2026: Advances in NMIBC and MIBC
Published on 25 October 2026
Dr Bernadett Szabados (University College London Hospital, London, UK), Prof Andrea Necchi (The Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy), Dr Félix Guerrero-Ramos (Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain) and Prof Yohann Loriot (Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France) discuss new data from the ESMO 2026 conference on non-muscle invasive and muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
The panel discusses updated results from the POTOMAC trial of durvalumab plus BCG in high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, including the potential to reduce radical cystectomy rates.
In muscle-invasive bladder cancer, the experts examine findings from the ENERGIZE and KEYNOTE-866 trials.
They also discuss the VOLGA trial of enfortumab vedotin plus durvalumab, with or without tremelimumab, in cisplatin-ineligible patients, including the potential to reduce treatment-related toxicity by omitting adjuvant enfortumab vedotin.
The discussion explores emerging bladder preserving strategies, the limitations of pathological complete response as a predictor of long term outcomes, and the potential role of circulating tumour DNA in guiding treatment de-escalation.
They also explore the NIAGARA and TROPHY-U-01 trials.
Finally, the panel considers investigational combinations for metastatic disease and the challenges of balancing treatment efficacy, toxicity and quality of life.
| Durvalumab (D) in Combination With BCG Induction and Maintenance (I+M) for BCG-Naïve, High-Risk Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC): Early Recurrence and Cystectomy-Free Survival in Patients (pts) With Papillary Only Tumours From POTOMAC | |
| ENERGIZE and KEYNOTE-866 trials | |
| Exploratory Analysis of Molecular Subtypes and Association With Treatment Outcomes in Patients (pts) With Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (MIBC) From NIAGARA | |
| Perioperative durvalumab with or without tremelimumab plus neoadjuvant enfortumab vedotin in muscle-invasive bladder cancer: Results from the phase 3 VOLGA trial | |
| Sacituzumab Govitecan (SG) Combined With Enfortumab Vedotin (EV) and Zimberelimab (ZIM) in Treatment-Naive Metastatic Urothelial Cancer (mUC): Interim Results From Phase 1b TROPHY-U-01 Cohort 7 |