Conditional Survival in de novo Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

Survival trends in chemotherapy exposed metastatic bladder cancer patients and chemotherapy effect across different age, sex, and race/ethnicity

PURPOSE

To test for survival differences in metastatic urothelial carcinoma of the urinary bladder (mUCUB) patients, according to years of diagnosis, age, sex, and race/ethnicity over time and for the effect of chemotherapy on overall mortality (OM).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Within the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (2000-2016), we identified 6860 mUCUB patients. Of those, 3,249 were exposed to chemotherapy. Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox regression models focused on OM. First, we tested the effect of years of diagnosis (historical [2000-2005] vs. intermediate [2006-2011] vs. contemporary [2012-2016]) in chemotherapy exposed mUCUB patients. Second, we tested the effect of chemotherapy in all mUCUB patients.

RESULTS

In chemotherapy exposed mUCUB patients according to historical vs. intermediate vs. contemporary years, median overall survival was 11 vs. 13 vs. 14 months respectively, which translated into hazard ratios (HR) of 0.86 (P = 0.005) and 0.75 (P < 0.001) in intermediate and contemporary vs. historical, respectively. Subgroup analyses in <70 years old, males and Caucasians were in agreement regarding statistically significant differences between historical vs. intermediate vs. contemporary, respectively. In multivariable Cox regression models fitted in the entire mUCUB cohort, chemotherapy exposure reduced OM (HR: 0.46; P < 0.001). Virtually the same results were recorded in age, sex, and race/ethnicity subgroups analyses.

CONCLUSIONS

Contemporary chemotherapy exposed mUCUB patients exhibited better survival than their historical and intermediate counterparts. Chemotherapy reduced mortality by half, across all patient types.

Coming of Age of Immunotherapy of Urothelial Cancer

Following platinum-based regimens becoming the reference standard of care, it has taken almost four decades to find a systemic treatment that improved overall survival in metastatic urothelial tumors. Single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitors have not only improved overall survival but also the quality of life of patients with metastatic urothelial tumors after failure of platinum-based regimens and as a maintenance therapy after four to six cycles of standard first-line chemotherapy. In addition, very promising data are emerging when single-agent immunotherapy is offered as adjuvant or neoadjuvant treatment for patients with muscle-invasive disease and also in the non-muscle-invasive setting. There is an extensive debate about the role of PD-L1 expression as a reliable biomarker to predict the activity of immune-based regimens. Furthermore, the lack of consensus concerning its utility means that there is a need for more and better tools to identify patients who are likely to benefit from these novel approaches. The field of urothelial tumors now additionally exploits novel antibody-drug conjugates and fibroblast growth factor-receptor inhibitors that are being tested in combination with immunotherapy. This added complexity contributes to an enormous increase in the challenges that will be faced shortly.

Clinical and therapeutic implications of sex steroid hormone receptor status in urothelial bladder cancer

Studies on the clinical profile of urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) have shown significant gender differences, namely, higher occurrence in males (male-to-female ratio of 3.5:1) and an advanced stage of disease at the time of diagnosis with rapid progression of the disease after initial diagnosis seen more commonly in females. The relationship between gender and UBC is complex and probably influenced by biological and epidemiological factors. Potential contributory factors such as sex steroid hormone pathway, gender difference in environmental carcinogen exposure, metabolic enzyme activity, and disparities in the intensity of diagnostic evaluation could probably explain the demographic trends in UBC. This comprehensive review of Medline publications during the period 2009–2019 attempts to identify the possible role of sex hormone receptors in gender variation and sexual dimorphism in the occurrence and progression of UBC. The clinical implications of identifying sex steroid receptors on factors such as disease prognostication and the therapeutic role of anti-androgens in the prevention and progression of UBC are critically reviewed. There is now significant evidence in literature to suggest the possible role of sex steroid hormone receptor-mediated signals in the genesis and progression of UBC. These receptors include androgen receptors, estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and various other orphan receptors. Excessive or reduced expression of these receptors, as well as alterations in their upstream or downstream pathways, correlate well with the clinical and therapeutic outcomes of UBC.

Impact of sex difference on survival of bladder cancer: A population-based registry data in Japan

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of sex on the prognosis of bladder cancer in Japan.

METHODS

In total, 18 728 patients diagnosed as having bladder cancer from 1993 to 2006 were registered in population-based cancer registries of six prefectures in Japan. We estimated relative survival by sex, age, clinical stage at initial diagnosis and pathology.

RESULTS

Patients included 14 203 men (75.8%) and 4525 women (24.2%). The stage at initial diagnosis in women was significantly higher than in men (P < 0.0001). Pathologically, women were more likely to have non-urothelial cancer than men (women 18.0%, men 9.5%, P < 0.0001). The 5-year relative survival was 80.3% for men and 67.7% for women. The 5-year relative survival was 93.0% for men and 87.7% for women in the localized cancer group, 34.8% for men and 23.9% for women in the locally advanced cancer group, and 7.1% for men and 8.3% for women in the metastatic cancer group. The relative survival of women was worse than that of men in the localized cancer group (hazard ratio 1.29, 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.57; P = 0.0145) and locally advanced cancer group (hazard ratio 1.32, 95% confidence interval 1.15-1.52; P = 0.0001), but not different in the metastatic cancer group (hazard ratio 1.04, 95% confidence interval 0.87-1.25; P = 0.6555).

CONCLUSIONS

Population-based registry data in Japan show that the cancer stage at initial diagnosis is higher in women than in men, and women with localized or locally advanced bladder cancer have a worse prognosis compared with men.

Urine-derived lymphocytes as a non-invasive measure of the bladder tumor immune microenvironment

Despite the advances in cancer immunotherapy, only a fraction of patients with bladder cancer exhibit responses to checkpoint blockade, highlighting a need to better understand drug resistance and identify rational immunotherapy combinations. However, accessibility to the tumor prior and during therapy is a major limitation in understanding the immune tumor microenvironment (TME). Herein, we identified urine-derived lymphocytes (UDLs) as a readily accessible source of T cells in 32 patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). We observed that effector CD8+ and CD4+ cells and regulatory T cells within the urine accurately map the immune checkpoint landscape and T cell receptor repertoire of the TME. Finally, an increased UDL count, specifically high expression of PD-1 (PD-1hi) on CD8+ at the time of cystectomy, was associated with a shorter recurrence-free survival. UDL analysis represents a dynamic liquid biopsy that is representative of the bladder immune TME that may be used to identify actionable immuno-oncology (IO) targets with potential prognostic value in MIBC.

Conditional survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: results from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry

BACKGROUND

Compared with overall survival, conditional survival is a more relevant measure of prognosis in surviving patients over time. The aim of this study was to describe the conditional survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma according to different prognostic variables through an analysis of a national population-based cancer registry.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 3,082 hepatocellular carcinoma patients who were diagnosed between 2004 and 2014.

RESULTS

The conditional overall and cause-specific survival improved from 37.6% to 68.9% and 45% to 79.1%, respectively, in the entire study population. The conditional overall and cause-specific survival improved from 32.6% to 69.3% and 40.1% to 74.8%, respectively, in patients aged 65 to 74 years. The conditional overall and cause-specific survival improved from 8.4% to 44.1% and 12.1% to 66.1%, respectively, in the stage IVB group. The conditional overall and cause-specific survival improved from 32.8% to 71.4% and 40.3% to 78.4%, respectively, in the positive/elevated AFP group.

CONCLUSIONS

Conditional survival exhibited an improved prognosis over time. For hepatocellular carcinoma patients who survived for a specific period of time after diagnosis, more dramatic improvements occurred in patients aged 65-74 years, patients with AJCC stage IVB, and patients with a positive/elevated AFP value.

Atezolizumab in Platinum-treated Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma: Outcomes by Prior Number of Regimens

BACKGROUND

Patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) who progress after platinum-based chemotherapy have had few treatment options and uniformly poor outcomes. Atezolizumab (anti-programmed death-ligand 1) was approved in the USA for cisplatin-ineligible and platinum-treated mUC based on IMvigor210, a phase 2, single-arm, two-cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of atezolizumab by the number of prior lines of systemic therapy in patients with pretreated mUC.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

IMvigor210 enrolled 315 patients with mUC with progression during or following platinum-based therapy at 70 international sites between May 2014 and November 2014. Key inclusion criteria included age ≥18 yr, creatinine clearance ≥30ml/min, and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0-1, with no limit on prior lines of treatment.

INTERVENTION

Patients in this cohort received atezolizumab 1200mg intravenously every 3 wk until loss of clinical benefit.

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Centrally assessed Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors v1.1 objective response rate (ORR), median duration of response, overall survival (OS), and adverse events were evaluated by prior treatment. Potential differences between subgroups were evaluated using log-rank (for OS) and chi-square (for ORR and adverse events frequencies) testing.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

Three hundred and ten patients were efficacy and safety evaluable (median follow-up, 21 mo). Objective responses and prolonged OS occurred across all prespecified subgroups; median duration of response was not reached in most subgroups. In patients without prior systemic mUC therapy (first-line subgroup), ORR was 25% (95% confidence interval: 14-38), and median OS was 9.6 mo (95% confidence interval: 5.9-15.8). No significant differences in efficacy or toxicity by therapy line were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

Atezolizumab demonstrated comparable efficacy and safety in previously treated patients with mUC across all lines of therapy evaluated.

PATIENT SUMMARY

We investigated effects of previous treatment in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma that progressed after platinum-based therapy. Atezolizumab was active and tolerable no matter how many treatment regimens patients had received. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02108652.

Survival after Metastasectomy for Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy is standard treatment for metastatic urothelial carcinoma; however, the vast majority of patients experience disease progression. As systemic therapy alone is rarely curative for the treatment of metastatic urothelial cancer, not only are new therapies needed but also refinement of general treatment principles. Herein, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the role of metastasectomy in metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the literature regarding local treatment for metastatic urothelial carcinoma. An online electronic search of the PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE databases was performed to identify peer-reviewed articles. All procedures were performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Information was then extracted including number of patients, gender, the site of the primary urothelial tumor, site of metastasis, chemotherapy before or after metastasectomy, overall survival (OS), and disease specific survival (DSS) after metastasectomy. A meta-analysis was performed with those studies with sufficient survival data to obtain pooled overall survival. The article quality was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook “risk of bias” tool.

Results: Seventeen out of 3963 articles were eligible for review between 1990–2015, including a total of 412 patients. The mean time to recurrence after metastasectomy was 14.25 months. The overall survival from time of metastasectomy ranged from 2 to 60 months. Pooled analyses of studies reported survival data revealed an improved overall survival for patients treated with metastasectomy compared with non-surgical treatment of metastatic lesions (HR 0.63; 95% CI, 0.49–0.81). All, except for three studies, were retrospective and non-randomized, leading to a high risk of bias associated with patient selection, patient attrition, and reporting. Such high potential of selection bias may lead to higher OS than expected. Additionally, treatment and outcome details reported across studies was highly variable.

Conclusions: Limited conclusions can be drawn from the available literature exploring the role of metastasectomy in the management of metastatic urothelial cancer due to lack of uniform reporting elements and multiple sources of bias particularly related to a lack of prospective randomized trials. As a subset of patients treated with metastasectomy achieve durable disease control, this approach may be considered for select patients.

Female with bladder cancer: what and why is there a difference?

While men are at a considerable higher risk of developing urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB), women present with more advanced disease stages and seem to experience unfavorable outcomes. Evaluating specific differences in the UCB incidence and outcomes between both genders in the non-muscle invasive, muscle-invasive or locally advanced and metastatic setting, as well as determining the underlying causes of disease, may allow optimizing treatment and improving the quality of urological care among both genders. In this review we summarize the best evidence and most recent findings on gender-specific differences in UCB incidence and outcomes. In addition, we present a comprehensive overview on established and potential reasons for differences in gender-specific UCB outcomes, including disparities in the pelvic anatomy, the diagnostic work-up, the modality and quality of treatment, the exposure to risk factors, the degradation of carcinogens as well as the sex-hormone signaling.