Overall response rate 50 percent among 36 patients with platinum-refractory or cisplatin-ineligible advanced urothelial cancer<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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THURSDAY, Nov. 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) — For patients with platinum-refractory or cisplatin-ineligible advanced urothelial cancer, the combination of nab-paclitaxel and pembrolizumab is promising, according to a study published online Nov. 1 in The Journal of Urology<\/em>.<\/p>\n Irene Tsung, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted a single-arm phase 2 trial of nab-paclitaxel and pembrolizumab in platinum-refractory or cisplatin-ineligible advanced urothelial cancer. Thirty-six response-evaluable patients were enrolled between February 2018 and April 2021.<\/p>\n The researchers found that the confirmed overall response rate was 50.0 percent, including three complete responses and 15 partial responses; 31 patients experienced some tumor shrinkage. The median duration of response was 4.4 months at a median follow-up of 19.7 months; median progression-free survival and overall survival were 6.8 and 18.2 months, respectively. Grade \u00e2\u0089\u00a53 adverse events occurred in 21 patients and included fatigue and anemia (six and four, respectively); immune-mediated adverse events occurred in 10 patients.<\/p>\n “While still experimental, the combination of these two agents offers an efficacious and feasible alternative for a group of patients for whom we don’t otherwise have effective treatment options,” Tsung said in a statement.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed financial ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Celgene\/Bristol Myers Squibb, which manufactures nab-paclitaxel and funded the study.<\/p>\n