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RecruitingNCT07908979RETAIN-3Updated Nov 2, 2026

Risk-Enabled Therapy After Initiating EV/Pembro for Bladder Cancer

A Phase 2 interventional study of Enfortumab vedotin and Pembrolizumab in Bladder Cancer, Urothelial Carcinoma and Muscle-Invasive Bladder Carcinoma, sponsored by Fox Chase Cancer Center. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-02.

Sponsored by Fox Chase Cancer Center · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Updated Nov 2, 2026Newly registeredGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
70
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

RETAIN-3 is a phase II study in patients with cT2-T3N0M0 muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. Participants will receive neoadjuvant enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab followed by clinical and biomarker-based assessment to inform subsequent treatment management.

Read the detailed description

RETAIN-3 is a multicenter, open-label, phase II study evaluating a biomarker- and response-adapted bladder preservation strategy in patients with cT2-T3N0M0 muscle-invasive bladder cancer treated with neoadjuvant enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab. Following treatment, participants undergo clinical restaging and biomarker assessment to guide subsequent management, which may include active surveillance, maintenance therapy, cystectomy, or chemoradiation. The study aims to determine whether a biomarker-guided approach can preserve the bladder in selected patients while maintaining favorable oncologic outcomes.

02

Conditions studied

  • Bladder Cancer
  • Urothelial Carcinoma
  • Muscle-Invasive Bladder Carcinoma
  • Muscle-invasive Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma

Keywords

  • Enfortumab vedotin
  • Pembrolizumab
  • Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
  • MIBC
  • Bladder Cancer
  • Urothelial Carcinoma
  • ctDNA
  • Circulating Tumor DNA
  • Bladder Preservation
03

In context

Urinary Bladder Neoplasms

1,798 studies on the registry are indexed under Urinary Bladder Neoplasms; 445 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 70 is above the median of 60 across 1,296 interventional studies indexed under Urinary Bladder Neoplasms.

Browse Urinary Bladder Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Fox Chase Cancer Center is the lead sponsor of 216 studies on the registry; 29 are open to participants now.

Of its 16 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 9 (56%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Primary urothelial or predominantly urothelial carcinoma of the bladder confirmed from pathology report. Patients with some component of variant histology mixed with predominant urothelial carcinoma will be allowed. Upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients are not allowed.
  • Urothelial carcinoma of the prostatic urethra in men is allowed
  • Histologic evidence of muscularis propria invasion.
  • AJCC(22) clinical stage T2-T3 N0M0.
  • No radiographic evidence of lymph node positive disease as per 1.1 (≥15 mm short axis diameter). If a lymph node is greater than 1.5 cm, it must be proven negative for the patient to be eligible.
  • No disease (M0).
  • performance status 0, or 1.
  • Negative pregnancy test in women of child bearing potential within 72 hours of the first dose of study treatment.
  • Normal organ and bone marrow function

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any component of small cell histology.
  • Prior systemic chemotherapy for muscle-invasive urothelial cancer of the bladder.
  • Uncontrolled diabetes ( >8.5%)
  • Pre-existing sensory or motor neuropathy grade > 2
  • Has a known additional that has had progression or has required active treatments in the last two years except for locally curable cancers that have been apparently cured. Exceptions include basal cell carcinoma of the skin, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin that has undergone potentially curative therapy or in situ cervical cancer. Patients with intermediate or low risk prostate cancer as defined by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) risk stratification guidelines may be eligible for enrollment.
  • Patients who have received experimental agents within 4 weeks of study entry.
  • Patients who have received enfortumab vedotin based treatment in the past.
  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection (defined by current oral or intravenous antibiotic therapy), symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
  • Pregnant women are excluded from this study due to the potential for teratogenic or abortifacient effects of cytotoxic therapy.
  • -infected patients on effective anti-retroviral therapy with an undetectable viral load are eligible
  • Any condition requiring systemic treatment with (> 10 mg daily prednisone or equivalent) or other medications within 7 days prior to first dose of study drug. Inhaled or topical steroids and adrenal replacement steroid doses \< 10 mg daily prednisone or equivalent are permitted in the absence of active disease. Use of steroids as pre-medication for contrast allergy prior to PET scans or CT scans is permitted.
  • History of autoimmune disease including but not limited to myasthenia gravis, myositis, autoimmune hepatitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, vascular thrombosis associated with antiphospholipid syndrome, Wegener's granulomatosis, Sjögren's syndrome, Guillain-Barré syndrome, multiple sclerosis, vasculitis, or glomerulonephritis. Any history of autoimmune disease not explicitly listed above should be evaluated by the Principal Investigator and may result in exclusion based on clinical judgment.
  • Prior treatment with CD137 agonists, anti-programmed death-1 (), or anti-PD-L1 therapeutic antibody or pathway-targeting agents. Has had an allogenic tissue/solid organ transplant.
  • Treatment with systemic immunostimulatory agents (including but not limited to interferons or interleukin [IL]-2) within 4 weeks or five half-lives of the drug, whichever is shorter, prior to enrolment.
  • Allergy to EV, pembrolizumab or any in the products
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(12)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

RECIST

The standard rules for measuring tumours on CT or MRI scans, to tell whether a cancer is shrinking, stable or growing during treatment.

“Measurable disease per RECIST 1.1” usually means at least one tumour 10 mm or more at its longest on a CT scan, or a lymph node 15 mm or more across its short axis.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

HbA1c

A blood test of average blood sugar over the past two to three months, given as a percentage or in mmol/mol. 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or more is the usual threshold for diabetes, normally confirmed by a second test.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

PD-1, PD-L1 and checkpoint inhibitors

PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are proteins that act as brakes on the immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab or nivolumab, block them so the immune system can attack a cancer.

PD-L1 can also be measured in a tumour sample. Some scores count stained tumour cells only (TPS); others also count certain immune cells (CPS). The study names the score and the minimum it uses.

Excipients

The other ingredients in a medicine besides the active drug, such as fillers, colours or preservatives.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
70 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Arm A: Neoadjuvant Enfortumab Vedotin Plus Pembrolizumab With Restaging

    Participants receive neoadjuvant enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab for 3 cycles followed by protocol-specified clinical restaging and biomarker assessment. All enrolled participants begin study treatment in this arm.

    Drug: Enfortumab vedotin · Drug: Pembrolizumab

  • Experimental
    Arm B: Additional Enfortumab Vedotin Plus Pembrolizumab for ctDNA-Positive Participants

    Participants with positive post-treatment circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and favorable clinical restaging findings may receive an additional 3 cycles of enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab followed by repeat assessment.

    Drug: Enfortumab vedotin · Drug: Pembrolizumab

  • Experimental
    Arm C: Maintenance Pembrolizumab With Active Surveillance

    Participants meeting protocol-defined criteria may undergo active surveillance while receiving maintenance pembrolizumab and scheduled disease evaluations.

    Drug: Pembrolizumab

  • Experimental
    Arm D: Definitive Chemoradiation

    Participants requiring definitive bladder-directed treatment may receive chemoradiation with radiation therapy and investigator-selected radiosensitizing chemotherapy according to protocol specifications.

    Drug: Cisplatin · Drug: Gemcitabine · Drug: Fluorouracil · Drug: Mitomycin c · Procedure: Radiation therapy

  • Experimental
    Arm E: Radical Cystectomy

    Participants requiring definitive surgical management may undergo radical cystectomy.

    Procedure: Radical cystectomy

Interventions

  • 1.25 mg/kg (maximum 125 mg) intravenously on Days 1 and 8 of each 21-day cycle for 3 cycles.

  • 200 mg intravenously on Day 1 of each 21-day cycle or subcutaneous pembrolizumab/berahyaluronidase formulation administered per protocol.

  • Cisplatin administered as a radiosensitizing chemotherapy regimen in participants receiving chemoradiation.

  • Gemcitabine administered as a radiosensitizing chemotherapy regimen in participants receiving chemoradiation.

  • Fluorouracil administered as a radiosensitizing chemotherapy regimen in participants receiving chemoradiation.

  • Mitomycin C administered in combination with fluorouracil as a radiosensitizing chemotherapy regimen in participants receiving chemoradiation.

  • ProcedureRadical cystectomy

    Surgical removal of the bladder performed according to institutional standards.

  • ProcedureRadiation therapy

    Definitive bladder-preserving treatment consisting of external beam radiation therapy administered with concurrent radiosensitizing chemotherapy according to institutional standards and protocol specifications.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 2-Year Metastasis-Free Survival (MFS)

    Metastasis-free survival is defined as the time from initiation of neoadjuvant therapy to metastatic urothelial carcinoma or death from any cause, whichever occurs first.

    Time frame: 2 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Bladder-intact metastasis-free survival in active surveillance patients

    Time frame: 2 years

  2. Pathologic complete response (pT0) rate among participants undergoing cystectomy

    Time frame: At cystectomy

  3. Clinical complete response rate

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

  4. Rate of urothelial carcinoma recurrence in active surveillance participants

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

  5. Overall survival (OS)

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

  6. Rate of distant recurrence among post-treatment ctDNA-positive participants undergoing definitive local therapy

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

  7. Proportion of participants undergoing cystectomy

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

  8. Bladder-intact metastasis-free survival in all evaluable participants

    Time frame: 2 years

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
Registered
First appeared on the registry. No changes since
Nov 2, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Nov 2, 2026
    First appeared on the registry

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07908979
Collaborators
Natera, Inc.
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Nov 2, 2026
Start date
Oct 16, 2026
Primary completion
Oct 1, 2029 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 1, 2031 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 2, 2026

Study contacts

Investigator-Sponsored Research Unit ISRU
Contact
protocoldev@fccc.edu
2678388380
Pooja Ghatalia, MD
principal investigator · Fox Chase Cancer Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Enfortumab vedotin · Pembrolizumab · Cisplatin · Gemcitabine · Fluorouracil · Mitomycin

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