Alex Filicevas: Thank you. Thank you for the invitation.
Ashish Kamat: So Alex, we are here at AUA 2026. A lot of great things with bladder cancer happening, but what was really exciting was a pre-AUA event that we participated in, you and I, along with our colleagues. And that was the bladder burden survey. So first off, introduce yourself to the audience. Everyone knows you, but for those that don't. And then tell us your rationale and reason for getting World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition to participate with us in the survey.
Alex Filicevas: Yeah, thank you for that. So I'm Alex Filicivas. I'm the executive director of the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition. We are an international umbrella organization of bladder cancer patient advocacy and support organizations, and we're really working to empower global bladder cancer patient communities by promoting collaboration, amplifying advocacy, and also promoting the work in the space like research, greater care, patient support, and driving better outcomes for all patients. So that's why this bladder burden survey was so important for us, because it allows us to dive deeper into emotional, mental health impact of bladder cancer, and specifically non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, and the treatments that come with it, to help us better understand the impact of it and helping us to collaborate with different stakeholders and supporting our patient organizations to better support patients and provide better care.
Especially I'm really excited that this was a very collaborative initiative, that we were able to work with international bladder cancer group, with BCAN, and together with Johnson & Johnson as well. And the survey covered six countries. So we covered United States, Mexico, Brazil, France, Germany, and Japan. And what was also quite unique to it is that we surveyed 800 patients and 800 urologists in this survey. So it gives us-
Ashish Kamat: And I think that is the critical part, right? Because the World Bladder Cancer Coalition has done a survey before, which is focused on patients and the carers, and this one included the treating physician. So did anything in the survey surprise you amongst the physician side of things?
Alex Filicevas: I think there's a lot of commonalities in perspectives, and especially the element of trust that patients place in the urologist was very reassuring. But there was a little nuance that I think for me was a little bit more striking, is the perception of a patient's ability to talk about the mental health and emotional impact of the disease and the treatment itself on a patient was perceived higher from the urologist perspective. And then we saw that quite a significant number of patients were withholding their emotional impact, how they were feeling, how it was impacting their daily life as well. So we know there is a trust and there is an open communication, but there is a little bit of disconnect to what extent we see those conversations actually happening. So I think it gives us a good direction for work.
Ashish Kamat: And we had a great panel discussion at the National Press Club, and you and I talked about several things. One of the things that came up with the trust, and what I said was that the trust that the patient gives us is really a gift, but it's also then our responsibility on the physician side to explore the options with the patients and not take that trust for granted. And you had several good comments that you made during that Press Club. Obviously that went on for an hour and a half. We don't have an hour and a half, but if you could highlight for our audience your one or two or even three key takeaways from your messaging that you want to give them.
Alex Filicevas: Of course. So first one I would say, to really understanding that we need to treat a patient as a whole, as an individual with a life outside of their diagnosis, outside of the consultation room. These patients have aspirations for their life after treatment. They also have certain milestones that they would want to be able to participate in fully. And this is one of the data points that came up that one in three patients. I think actually was a higher number, so I won't quote directly, but we can share that information afterwards, is that patients miss important milestones in their life. And many also will take a more reclusive, let's say, approach to social life and so on. So really having a conversation with the patient to really understand where their ambitions and priorities lay will help us better understand the best treatment options for those patients.
And when we're talking about treatment options, shared decision-making comes up as a very, very important part of the work that we're doing. And with more treatment options that are becoming available, we need to ensure that we're having those conversations with patients. And I think shared decision-making is truly grounded in a few things, and I think that we can ensure both from patient advocacy side, but also from urologists, is that we listen to patients, that patients feel heard, that patients feel informed, and that they feel taken seriously as well with their concerns and aspirations for which they aspire to for the life after treatment.
Ashish Kamat: And the key thing is getting the right stakeholders together. As you mentioned, and as we've all talked about, that's one of the missions of the International Bladder Cancer Group. That's the mission of BCAN, that's the mission of World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition. And it's great to have a partner in industry that can actually bring things together and develop those solutions, or help us develop the solutions for our patients. It's wonderful chatting with you. Obviously we could chat forever on this very important topic, but in closing, if you could share one main takeaway from this whole experience with our audience, what would it be?
Alex Filicevas: I would say that one primary thing is that none of us as different stakeholder groups and as individuals can do this alone. So let's work together as we bring more innovation and more innovative approaches to treatment and conversations that we're having with patients whilst creating a space that is inviting for patients to share their concerns, to share the challenges that they're facing during and after their treatment, and helping them live the best lives that they can with and after bladder cancer.
Ashish Kamat: Great message. Thank you so much, Alex.
Alex Filicevas: Thank you.