From clinical trials to clinical use of checkpoint inhibitors for patients with metastatic urothelial cancer

Abstract

Monoclonal antibodies targeting the checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs), programmed cell death protein-1 or programmed cell death ligand-1, are changing the landscape of urothelial carcinoma therapeutics. Overall, clinical studies in metastatic or advanced urothelial cancer showed that CPIs provided a slight improvement in survival and a relevant advantage in safety, compared with chemotherapy. After reviewing published and ongoing trials, the authors discuss expected answers to unmet needs, with a special attention to the research of biological markers for patients with urothelial cancer eligible for treatment with CPIs in this article.

Keywords: PD-1; PD-L1; atezolizumab; checkpoint inhibitors; durvalumab; immunotherapy; nivolumab; urothelial cancer.