They also had fewer cancer recurrences and a higher likelihood of disease-free progression.
NIAGRA is the first randomized Phase III trial to upend the current standard neoadjuvant approach for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, said Milowsky, the George Gabriel and Frances Gable Villere Distinguished Professor of Bladder and Genitourinary Cancer Research at UNC School of Medicine and co-leader of the UNC Lineberger's Clinical Research Program.
The NIAGRA trial had some significant shortcomings. Primarily, it was not designed to measure the respective contribution of the before and after surgery durvalumab components.