Home Hematology and Oncology Addition of Atezolizumab May Aid in Metastatic Urothelial Cancer

Addition of Atezolizumab May Aid in Metastatic Urothelial Cancer

Phase 3 trial shows prolonged progression-free survival for atezolizumab plus platinum-based chemo

FRIDAY, May 15, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma, the addition of atezolizumab to platinum-based chemotherapy prolongs progression-free survival, according to a study published online May 14 in The Lancet.

Matthew D. Galsky, M.D., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Tisch Cancer Institute in New York City, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial involving untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma from 221 sites in 35 countries. A total of 1,213 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive atezolizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy (group A; 451 patients), atezolizumab monotherapy (group B; 362 patients), or placebo plus platinum-based chemotherapy (group C; 400 patients).

For all patients, the median follow-up for survival was 11.8 months. The researchers found that the median progression-free survival was 8.2 months and 6.3 months in groups A and C, respectively, in the intention-to-treat population (stratified hazard ratio, 0.82; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.70 to 0.96). The median overall survival was 16.0 and 13.4 months in groups A and C, respectively (stratified hazard ratio, 0.83; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.69 to 1.00). The median overall survival was 15.7 and 13.1 months for groups B and C, respectively (stratified hazard ratio, 1.02; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.83 to 1.24).

“These results support the use of atezolizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy as a potential firstline treatment option for metastatic urothelial carcinoma,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including F. Hoffmann-La Roche/ Genentech, which manufactures atezolizumab and funded the study.

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