Background 

Even with many advances in treatment, bladder cancer remains difficult to cure. Some patients with bladder cancer that has not spread still end up needing to have their bladder removed, while those with cancer that has spread to other parts of the body—called metastatic bladder cancer—often have poor survival rates. Only about 15% of people with metastatic bladder cancer live five years after diagnosis, underscoring the need for new therapies. Although immunotherapy, a treatment that helps the immune system fight cancer, has shown promise, many patients still do not respond well. Scientists believe that certain immune cells inside tumors actually block the immune system from working properly, allowing the cancer to survive and grow. 

What the Study Proposes to Address 

This study focuses on finding a new way to overcome these “immune-suppressive” cells that stop the body from fighting bladder cancer. The researchers have developed a special treatment method designed to change how these harmful cells behave, essentially reprogramming them so that the immune system can once again recognize and destroy cancer cells. 

The team is creating a flexible treatment platform that can combine several different drugs into a single system, allowing multiple medicines to work together more effectively inside the tumor. They will use advanced tools, including a drug screening test that uses light and genetic testing techniques, to find the best drug combinations to target and reprogram these immune-suppressive cells. This approach will be tested in mice with both early and advanced bladder cancer using a new drug delivery system called CANDI. 

Why This Research is Important 

This work could lead to a breakthrough in how bladder cancer is treated. By turning off the cancer’s ability to hide from the immune system and suppress immune function, this new therapy could make immunotherapy much more effective. If successful, it could help prevent the need for bladder removal in some patients and improve survival for those with advanced disease. This research aims to give doctors better tools to fight bladder cancer and give patients a greater chance at long-term recovery. 

Parvanian, S., Ge, X., & Garris, C. S. (2025). Recent developments in myeloid immune modulation in cancer therapy. Trends in Cancer, 11(4), 365–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trecan.2024.12.003

Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program, “Targeting Dendritic Cells in Bladder Cancer Immunotherapy”, 2024, $653,928

National Cancer Institute, “Bioorthogonal probe development for highly parallel in vivo imaging”, 2023, $395,039

National Cancer Institute, “Temporal analysis of the GBM tumor microenvironment during myeloid cell activating therapy.”, 2023, $557,266

National Cancer Institute, “Cue-101 and TCR-T cell Combinatorial Strategy for HPV+ Head and Neck Cancers.”, 2024, $675,007

National Cancer Institute, “Expanding the therapeutic window of chemoradiation through radiation-responsive nanoparticle drug depots”, 2025, $644,034

Charles Evavold, PhD; Harvard University