Robert Svatek
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Bladder tumors usually grow in the thin lining of the bladder and rarely reach the muscle beneath it, so a surgeon can often remove them through the urethra without taking out the bladder. The problem is what comes next: genetic instability is widespread across the whole bladder lining in most patients, so new tumors keep appearing even after a complete removal.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Microbiology & Immunology
Pharmacology
- Topics
bladder cancer
cancer prevention
eRapa
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Test in a phase II double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial whether one year of eRapa, an encapsulated oral form of the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin, reduces relapse in patients newly diagnosed with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, using standard surveillance to estimate recurrence-free survival.
- Assess the tolerability of long-term eRapa in largely elderly bladder cancer patients using validated bladder-cancer symptom and quality-of-life questionnaires.
- Measure whether eRapa affects cognition and physical ability, using validated executive function and memory testing together with physical performance testing in trial participants.
- Test the hypothesis that eRapa improves immune function by profiling circulating immune cells, including memory T cell differentiation and tumor-specific immunity, in treated versus placebo patients.
- Determine whether eRapa boosts BCG-specific immune responses in patients concurrently receiving intravesical BCG, the live bacterial immunotherapy used for high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
More about the research
Patients then face a lifetime of scope exams, repeat biopsies, and repeated drug treatments instilled into the bladder — one reason bladder cancer is among the most expensive cancers to manage. This project tests a drug strategy aimed at preventing those relapses in the first place.
Why it matters
Patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer relapse often and spend years in repeated surveillance and treatment, which drives both personal burden and cost. If a year of oral eRapa lowers recurrence while remaining tolerable, it could become a secondary prevention option and move to a registration trial. The immune profiling in older patients may also inform how other cancer immunotherapies are designed for this age group.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sarah Psutka
University of Washington, WA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether weekly in-clinic true acupuncture before intravesical therapy reduces urinary symptoms more than sham acupuncture or a waitlist control, using the EORTC QLQ-NMIBC24 questionnaire at weeks 3, 6 and 12.
Benedict Shek Hang Law
Weill Medical College of Cornell University, NY·Biomedical Engineering
Determine the best physicochemical properties of Bds, an improved kidney-cleared carrier peptide, including chemical groups, length and surface charge, along with infusion rate and volume, for precise drug delivery to the urinary system.
Ellen Kraig
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Compare drug levels and biological effects of rapamycin and everolimus in healthy adults aged 65–90. A 6-week adaptive dose-finding study will test daily and intermittent dosing in both sexes.
The school
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio: 15 labs on PI Pages, $313M a year on research, 149 research doctorates a year.
More about University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
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