Ron, I hope your cousin found all these clinical trials that I copied for you just in case.
Ongoing Trials
MPDL3280A, an anti-PD-L1 antibody made by Roche/Genentech, is undergoing a phase I trial, which showed that it shrank tumors in 13 out of 30 patients who had been previously treated for metastatic bladder cancer, and the responses were rapid and ongoing. The trial is continuing (NCT01375842) and there is a phase II trial in bladder cancer patients which just started (NCT02108652).
Nivolumab is an anti-PD-1 antibody and ipilimumab (Yervoy®) is an anti-CTLA-4 antibody, being produced by Bristol-Myers Squibb. They have a phase I/II trial of nivolumab or nivolumab and ipilimumab in several cancers, including bladder cancer. (NCT01928394)
Oncolytic viruses specifically kill cancer cells. CG0070, a product of Cold Genesys, Inc., is an oncolytic adenovirus that also expresses the immune stimulating cytokine GM-CSF to further enhance the anti-tumor immune response. A phase II/III study is testing intravesical CG0070 in patients with CIS of the bladder or with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer plus CIS of the bladder and who have failed BCG therapy (NCT01438112).
HS-410 is a therapeutic vaccine made from a human bladder cancer cell line that has been irradiated and engineered to express soluble gp96, a chaperone protein that can present multiple tumor antigens to the immune system and act as an adjuvant to enhance the immune response. A phase I/II trial sponsored by Heat Biologics testing HS-410 is currently enrolling patients with high-risk, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer who have completed surgery and intravesical BCG therapy (NCT02010203).
A phase I study at Roswell Park Cancer Institute is testing the DEC-205-NY-ESO-1 fusion protein vaccine with or without the biological therapy sirolimus in patients with a variety of solid tumors, including recurrent and metastatic bladder cancer. This vaccine may help build an immune response against tumor cells that express the cancer-testis antigen NY-ESO-1. The addition of sirolimus may enhance this immune response. (NCT01522820)
ALT-801, a product of Altor Bioscience Corporation, is a fusion of the cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2) and an antibody that recognizes peptides on the surface of tumor cells. Treatment with IL-2 can enhance the activity of the immune system against tumors but can also cause many side effects. By linking IL-2 to the antibody, ALT-801 can target IL-2 to cancer cells. Two phase I/II trials are testing ALT-801 in combination with gemcitabine in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer who have failed BCG therapy (NCT01625260) and in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin in patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (NCT01326871).