Pharmaceutical giant Roche is developing a new treatment for patients with advanced bladder cancer.

The cancer immunotherapy drug, MPDL3280A, was tried clinically in the first phase of a trial on 68 patients that didn't respond to usual treatments such as chemotherapy.

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It uses an antibody that blocks PD-L1, a protein believed to protect the cancer from detection by the immune system.

After 21 days of treatment, the tumor size of 43 percent of the patients diagnosed as PD-L1 positive shrank. After 72 days, 52 percent of the patients reported decreases in the size of their tumors. The treatment completely cured two patients, while 11 percent responded positively.

Tom Powles, lead author of the study and consultant medical oncologist at the Barts Cancer Institute of Queen Mary University of London, said the experiment is a breakthrough in the search for alternative treatment for the ailment since chemotherapy was the only choice for decades.

According to Headlines & Global News, bladder cancer is the seventh most common type of cancer in Britain. Some 10 percent of patients already have the advanced stage of the cancer, which gives them only an average of 12 to 18 months to live after the initial diagnosis.

In the U.S., bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer with one in 26 men expected to develop the ailment in their lifetime. Among women, it's only 1 in 90.

For 2014, 74,500 people in the United States are expected to be diagnosed with bladder cancer, and some 15,500 will die, estimated the American Cancer Society.

Powles said future trials would need larger number of patients. He said the medicine has the breakthrough designation status from the FDA.

"We hope to fast track this process so we can begin to give hope to the thousands of people affected by advanced bladder cancer each year," Powles said.

Tagsbladder cancer, roche