Pathologic Complete Response in Urothelial Carcinoma Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Meta-Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been evaluated as neoadjuvant treatment in urothelial carcinoma (UC) patients, with these agents reporting encouraging pathologic complete response (pCR) rates. Herein, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at evaluating the incidence of pCR in UC patients treated with neoadjuvant ICI. Moreover, we investigated the impact of PD-L1 expression in this patient population, exploring the possible role of PD-L1 status as predictive biomarker.

Materials and methods

We retrieved all the relevant trials through PubMed/Medline, Cochrane Library and EMBASE; moreover, proceedings of the main international oncological meetings were also searched for relevant abstracts. Eligible trials assessed pre-operative ICI in UC patients.

Results

Our meta-analysis has highlighted a pooled pCR rate of 36.6% in the overall population; interestingly, pCR was higher in PD-L1 positive compared with PD-L1 negative UCs (49.5% versus 35.1%, respectively).

Conclusions

Positive signals emanating from neoadjuvant immunotherapy should encourage the scientific community to persist in the long road toward finding more effective treatments for UC patients.

SUBMITTER: Rizzo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8880201 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature