Definition

A drug used with bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) to treat adults with bladder cancer that has not invaded the muscle layers of the bladder and with carcinoma in situ. Patients may or may not have a papillary tumor (a tumor that looks like long, thin “finger-like” growths). Anktiva is used in patients whose cancer has not gotten better after treatment with BCG. It is given with BCG as a solution through a catheter (thin tube) that is placed into the bladder. It is also being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer. Anktiva binds to receptors for the protein interleukin-15 (IL-15), which is found on certain types of immune cells. This may help the immune cells kill cancer cells better than BCG alone. Anktiva is a type of IL-15 receptor agonist and a type of immunotherapy. Also called nogapendekin alfa inbakicept.