FDA Approves Pembrolizumab for Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. The FDA also granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are not eligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy.
KEYNOTE-045
The regular approval for the second-line indication was based on data from the KEYNOTE-045 trial, a multicenter, randomized, active-controlled trial in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks (n = 270) or investigator’s choice of a chemotherapy regimen (paclitaxel [n = 84], docetaxel [n = 84], or vinflunine [n = 87]) every 3 weeks (n = 272).
The trial demonstrated statistically significant improvements in overall survival (OS) and objective response rate (ORR) for patients assigned to pembrolizumab as compared to chemotherapy. Median OS was 10.3 and 7.4 months in the pembrolizumab and chemotherapy arms, respectively (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59–0.91, P = .004). ORR was 21% for pembrolizumab and 11% for chemotherapy (P = .002). No statistically significant difference in progression-free survival between the two arms was observed.
KEYNOTE-052
The accelerated approval for the first-line indication was based on data from KEYNOTE-052, a single-arm, open-label trial in 370 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who were deemed not eligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy. Patients received pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks. With a median follow-up time of 7.8 months, the ORR was 28.6% (95% CI = 24–34) and the median response duration was not reached (range = 1.4+ to 17.8+ months).
Adverse Events
The most common adverse reactions reported for at least 20% of pembrolizumab-treated patients in either of the two trials included fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, pruritus, decreased appetite, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and rash. Discontinuation of pembrolizumab secondary to adverse reactions occurred in 8% of patients in KEYNOTE-045 and in 11% in KEYNOTE-052. Dose interruption of pembrolizumab occurred in approximately 20% of patients in either trial. Serious adverse reactions occurred in approximately 40% of pembrolizumab-treated patients. Immune-mediated adverse reactions, including pneumonitis, colitis, hepatitis, and endocrinopathies, were reported in the trials and were managed according to guidelines in Warnings and Precautions of the label.
The recommended pembrolizumab dose and schedule for the treatment of urothelial carcinoma is 200 mg as an intravenous infusion over 30 minutes every 3 weeks.
Full prescribing information for pembrolizumab is available here.
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
