Vol 17, No 6 (2021)
Review paper
Published online: 2021-11-04

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Maintenance avelumab in metastatic urothelial cancer patients

Jakub Kucharz1
Oncol Clin Pract 2021;17(6):291-294.

Abstract

The treatment outcomes of patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma remain poor. Despite the relatively high response rate to platinum-based chemotherapy, the median overall survival doesn't exceed 14 months. Immunotherapy with anti-PD-1/anti-PD-L1 antibodies in the second-line treatment shows significant activity but nearly 50% of patients are not eligible for such treatment because of poor performance status. Therefore, there is a need for new treatment strategies. In the phase III JAVELIN Bladder 100 clinical trial, the maintenance treatment with avelumab in patients who achieved disease control with platinum-based first-line chemotherapy resulted in prolongation of overall survival and progression-free survival with good safety profile.

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