SAN FRANCISCO – Emerging data from phase 3 clinical trials are better clarifying the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in advanced urothelial cancer and helping identify patients most likely to benefit.
An updated analysis of the KEYNOTE-045 trial showed that, compared with chemotherapy, pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an antibody to programmed death-1 (PD-1), almost doubled the 2-year survival rate in patients with recurrent or advanced urothelial cancer. No cumulative toxicity was seen.
Susan London/Frontline Medical News
Dr. Robert J. Jones
Biomarker analyses from the IMvigor 211 trial showed that, compared with chemotherapy, atezolizumab (Tecentriq), an antibody to programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), prolonged survival by more than 7 months in patients with platinum-treated locally advanced or metastatic disease whose tumors were positive for this ligand and had a high mutational burden. The difference translated to a halving of the risk of death.
Results of both trials were reported at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, ASTRO, and the Society of Urologic Oncology.