PD-L1 Inhibitor Pregnancy: Should not be used during pregnancy unless the clinical condition of the woman requires treatment. Women of childbearing potential must use effective contraception during and for 5 months after treatment.

Atezolizumab

Brand names: Tecentriq

Atezolizumab is a humanised monoclonal antibody immune checkpoint inhibitor used in oncology, including in the treatment of urothelial carcinoma.

Auto-extracted from the source labelling — not yet independently clinician-verified. These values were distilled from the UK SPC (or the US label where noted) but have not had a clinician sign-off. Confirm against the current SmPC before prescribing.

Adult dose

Dose: 840 mg every 2 weeks, or 1200 mg every 3 weeks, or 1680 mg every 4 weeks

Route: Intravenous infusion

Frequency: Every 2, 3 or 4 weeks depending on chosen regimen

Urothelial carcinoma (UC) monotherapy: 1L UC treated until disease progression or unmanageable toxicity; 2L UC treated until loss of clinical benefit or unmanageable toxicity. Must be initiated and supervised by physicians experienced in the treatment of cancer. Dose reductions are not recommended; manage immune-mediated adverse reactions by dose delay or discontinuation. If a planned dose is missed, administer as soon as possible and adjust the schedule to maintain the appropriate interval between doses.

Dose auto-extracted from UK Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) via the eMC; US FDA prescribing information (openFDA / DailyMed) — cross-check; US labelling may differ from UK — not yet clinician-verified. Always confirm against the product SmPC and your local formulary before prescribing.

Contraindications

Hypersensitivity to atezolizumab or to any of the excipients

Side effects

Fatigue
Decreased appetite
Rash
Nausea
Diarrhoea

Clinical monograph

How it works

It binds programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), blocking its interaction with the PD-1 and B7.1 receptors and thereby restoring T-cell-mediated antitumour immune responses.

Prescribing in practice

Can cause severe and potentially fatal immune-mediated adverse reactions affecting almost any organ system (including pneumonitis, colitis, hepatitis and endocrinopathies), which may require corticosteroids and treatment interruption or discontinuation.
Infusion-related reactions can occur and patients should be observed during and after administration.
Prescribe and supervise only under specialist oncology direction with appropriate management protocols for immune-related toxicity.

Monitoring

Monitor liver function, thyroid and other endocrine function, and clinical signs or symptoms of immune-mediated reactions before and during treatment.

Counselling the patient

Report promptly any new breathlessness, cough, persistent diarrhoea, jaundice, severe fatigue or other unexplained symptoms.
Carry an alert card and tell any healthcare professional you are receiving immunotherapy.

Evidence & guidelines

Use is supported by clinical trial evidence and NICE technology appraisal guidance in defined urothelial and other cancer indications.

Reference: IMvigor210 (Rosenberg et al. Lancet 2016); IMvigor211 (Powles et al. NEJM 2018); IMvigor130; MHRA SPC Tecentriq; NICE TA525; EAU Bladder Cancer Guidelines 2024; Drug verified in RxNorm (NLM); confirm dosing against the manufacturer SPC (eMC). Verify against your local formulary and current prescribing references before prescribing. The structured dose values shown have been reviewed by a clinician. Monograph status: clinician-reviewed (2026-07-04).

Curated clinical cross-links plus same-class fallbacks.

Calculators

Pathways