New cancer treatments offer hope for men

Cancer treatment is getting better every year, with new options giving men a stronger chance to fight the disease.
In 2025, several new treatments received a thumbs-up from a group of experts at the European Medicines Agency (EMA). This group, called the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), checks if new medicines are safe and effective for use in Europe.
Here’s a look at some exciting new treatments for cancers that often affect men.

New treatments for some cancers that highly affect men

Lung cancer

Lung cancer comes in two main types: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). NSCLC is more common (about 80-85% of cases), grows more slowly, and can often be treated with surgery, targeted drugs, or chemotherapy. SCLC is less common (10-15%), grows quickly, spreads early, and is usually treated with chemotherapy and radiation.

For NSCLC: If you have NSCLC that can be surgically removed but has a high chance of coming back, and your cancer doesn’t have specific genetic changes (EGFR mutations or ALK rearrangements), a drug called durvalumab (Imfinzi®) can help. It’s given with chemotherapy before surgery and then on its own afterwards to keep the cancer at bay.
For SCLC: If you have limited-stage SCLC (cancer that hasn’t spread far) and it hasn’t grown after chemotherapy and radiation, durvalumab (Imfinzi®) can be used to help keep it under control.

Another option for NSCLC with a high risk of returning, where the tumor shows a specific marker (PD-L1 expression ≥ 1%), is nivolumab (Opdivo®). Like durvalumab, it’s used with chemotherapy before surgery and then alone afterwards.

For extensive-stage SCLC (cancer that has spread widely), a new drug called tislelizumab (Tevimbra®) can be used as a first treatment alongside chemotherapy drugs (etoposide and platinum-based chemo).

Bladder cancer

For men with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (cancer that has grown into the bladder’s muscle layer), tislelizumab (Tevimbra®), is a new option. It’s used before and after surgery to shrink tumors and lower the chance of the cancer coming back. When combined with chemotherapy, it gives patients a better shot at beating this tough disease.

Prostate cancer

A promising treatment for prostate cancer is Pluvicto, which could see more uses in the future. It’s designed for men with advanced prostate cancer that no longer responds to treatments that lower male hormones (called castration-resistant prostate cancer) and has spread to other parts of the body. Pluvicto targets a protein on cancer cells called PSMA (prostate-specific membrane antigen). It delivers a radioactive substance, lutetium-177, that attacks and kills the cancer cells. While Pluvicto involves some radiation exposure, doctors believe its benefits outweigh the risks for men whose cancer has this PSMA protein.

These new treatments show how far cancer care has come, offering men more ways to fight back and live healthier, longer lives.