Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Long-term Survival of Patients With Metastatic Urothelial Cancer

Abstract

This cohort study uses published clinical trial data to assess long-term survival of patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Hallmarks of cancer resistance

“…ICIs, including pembrolizumab and nivolumab, help the body recognise and destroy cancer cells by blocking the signals that these cells use to elude the immune system. 255 Adoptive cell therapy known as CAR-T cell therapy uses a patient’s own T cells that have been genetically modified to target and eradicate cancer cells. It has demonstrated impressive results in the treatment of haematological malignancies such as multiple myeloma (MM), non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL).…”

Non-Invasive Predictive Biomarkers for Immune-Related Adverse Events Due to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

“…Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are one of the most important advancements in cancer treatment in the past ten years. They have shown efficacy in various types of solid tumors, including malignant melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and urothelial carcinoma [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Current ICIs are monoclonal antibodies that target programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitors, among others, such as lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG-3), T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-3 (TIM-3), and T-cell immunoreceptor with Ig and ITIM domain (TIGIT) inhibitors [ 4 ].…”

Change in Splenic Volume as a Surrogate Marker for Immunotherapy Response in Patients with Advanced Urothelial and Renal Cell Carcinoma—Evaluation of a Novel Approach of Fully Automated Artificial Intelligence Based Splenic Segmentation

“…Nevertheless, complete response rates of modern IO approaches in various treatment settings are only around 10% and the objective response rates range from 10 to 55%. Therefore, valid prognostic factors are crucial to avoid unnecessary, expensive therapies with multiple potential adverse events and thus enable real patient-individualized, targeted therapies [ 8 ]. IO has a long history in the systemic treatment of aRCC because RCC is not responsive to chemotherapy at all [ 2 ].…”

“…In summary, there is a rapidly changing therapeutic landscape in the treatment of aUC and aRCC that is leading to significant improvements in patient outcomes [ 8 ]. However, there is still an urgent need for simple and feasible prognostic tools to detect early responses to IO treatments [ 3 , 4 ].…”