Progress in the Journey to Transform the Treatment of Bladder Cancer

Today at the 2023 American Urological Association (AUA) annual meeting, Janssen presented the first results from a comprehensive clinical program evaluating an investigational drug delivery system for the treatment of bladder cancer. Building on a decades-long personal and professional passion to improve upon health outcomes for patients, this is a milestone I am extremely proud of.

My interest in medicine began at an early age, fueled by my parents, who are both pharmacists by training. Dinner time conversations often centered around discussions of recently approved medications or where the field of medicine was evolving. Growing up in this environment, with my parents as role models, spurred my dedication to the science of medicine and eventually to the care of patients in clinical practice.

Dr. Cutie with his parents, at his graduation from Yale University, 2003

As a practicing urologist, I worked with many patients underserved by the therapeutic options available at the time, who were forced to endure both unwelcome symptoms of their disease and side effects of their treatments. This was a particular issue when it came to patients with bladder cancer, for whom up until recently, there has been little innovation over the past thirty years. My dissatisfaction with the status quo eventually led me to medical research, where scientists may affect change for patients at a broader population level.

Our data presented today, highlighting the potential promise of novel drug delivery technologies built to directly treat organ-confined tumors in the bladder, is the culmination of years of hard work and collaboration with some of the brightest minds in cancer research. These data are an encouraging step forward in the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and we look forward to further updates from our ongoing clinical programs, which span the full spectrum of urothelial carcinoma, from non-muscle invasive (NCT05714202) and muscle invasive bladder cancer (NCT04919512; NCT04658862) to metastatic disease (NCT03390504).

Our ambition is to redefine treatment for the more than 600,000 patients diagnosed with bladder cancer globally each year. Today is just the beginning.

Posted April 30, 2023