Genitourinary Cancers

Even as our understanding of the biology of prostate and bladder cancers improves and treatment protocols are refined, there remain many clinical scenarios in which no clear-cut answers are available.

The FDA has granted nivolumab (Opdivo) a breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma after the failure of a platinum-containing regimen.

Over the past few months, an alarming number of events have surfaced that we, as providers of oncologic urology care, should take notice.

Thomas E. Hutson, DO, PharmD, discusses how nivolumab, cabozantinib, and lenvatinib/everolimus have significantly impacted the management of patients with renal cell carcinoma and promising combination regimens on the horizon to propel the field forward.

David F. McDermott, MD, provides further insight on the long-term efficacy and safety of nivolumab and its role in renal cell carcinoma, as well as potential combination regimens and challenges with sequencing nivolumab.

Saeed Rafii, MD, PhD, medical director, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, United Kingdom, discusses a phase I/II dose-escalation study examining the efficacy and safety of the PD-1 antibody durvalumab in patients with metastatic urothelial bladder cancer.

Cabozantinib reduced the risk of death by 34% compared with everolimus in patients with previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma, according to updated data from the phase III METEOR trial.

About one third of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who were treated with single-agent nivolumab in the second-line setting or later were still alive at 4 and 5 years in long-term follow-up data from phase I and phase II clinical trials.