An epigenetics drug currently being used for the treatment of blood cancers and rare sarcomas can stop the growth of bladder cancer by activating the immune system, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study done in mice.

It’s the first time a drug used in hematologic malignancies and rare sarcomas has been used to treat one of the most common solid tumors. The drug, tazemetostat, was originally developed to treat lymphoma.

“We’ve discovered for the first time that the drug actually works by activating the immune system, not just by inhibiting the tumor,” said lead study author Dr. Joshua Meeks, an associate professor of urology and of biochemistry and molecular genetics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician/scientist.

The study will be published Oct. 5 in Science Advances.

“We think the specific mutations that may make the drug successful are found in almost 70% of bladder cancers,” said Meeks, also a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

Bladder cancer affects more than 700,000 individuals in the U.S. It is the sixth most common cancer overall and the fourth most common among men. More than 80,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed yearly with bladder cancer.

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