Max Kates, MD

Max Kates, MD, discusses how newer therapies for BCG-unresponsive NMIBC may have better long-term cost-effectiveness despite higher initial costs, emphasizing the importance of leveraging patient assistance programs, copay cards, and foundation support to ensure treatment access while using cost comparison tools to help patients make informed decisions.

A panelist discusses how treatment decisions involve balancing clinical efficacy with financial considerations, noting that patients often prefer treatments with fewer office visits and minimal lifestyle disruption when presented with multiple effective options.

Max Kates, MD, discusses how early complete response rates exceeding 50% at 3 months with newer therapies are encouraging, though long-term follow-up remains critical for evaluating durability of response and establishing real-world effectiveness compared with clinical trial outcomes.

A panelist discusses how targeted gene therapy, particularly nadofaragene firadenovec, represents a paradigm shift in BCG-unresponsive NMIBC treatment.

A panelist discusses how intravesical chemotherapy offers localized treatment with minimal systemic effects but requires frequent administration, while PD-L1 inhibitors show promising response rates yet come with immune-related adverse events, highlighting how each current treatment option presents distinct trade-offs among efficacy, safety, and convenience.

Max Kates, MD, discusses how BCG-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer patients historically faced limited treatment options beyond radical cystectomy, with significant unmet needs in preserving bladder function while effectively treating this aggressive disease.

A panelist discusses how identifying intermediate-risk patients, managing disease heterogeneity in non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer, and addressing long-term care needs present key challenges in patient care while highlighting recent treatment advances that offer promising solutions.