ESMO 2022: Avelumab First-Line Maintenance for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma: Results from Patients with ≥12 Months of Treatment in JAVELIN Bladder 100

(UroToday.com) The 2022 ESMO annual meeting featured a urothelial cancer session, including a presentation by Dr. Jeanny Aragon-Ching discussing extended results of JAVELIN Bladder 100 for patients receiving ≥12 months of Avelumab first-line maintenance for advanced urothelial carcinoma. In the phase 3 JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial (NCT02603432), patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma that had not progressed with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy had significantly prolonged overall survival and progression-free survival with Avelumab first-line maintenance + best supportive care compared with best supportive care alone.1 These results led to Avelumab first-line maintenance being approved worldwide and adopted into international treatment guidelines as standard of care. At ESMO 2022, Dr. Aragon-Ching and colleagues reported long-term data from patients with ≥12 months of Avelumab first-line maintenance treatment as part of the JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial.



Eligible patients in JAVELIN Bladder 100 had unresectable locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that had not progressed with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients were randomized 1:1 to the Avelumab or control arm following an interval of 4-10 weeks from the end of first-line chemotherapy. The trial schema for JAVELIN Bladder 100 is as follows:

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Study treatment was continued until confirmed progression, unacceptable toxicity, or withdrawal of consent.

After a median follow-up of 38.0 months in the Avelumab arm (data cutoff June 4, 2021; ≥2 years in all patients), 118/350 patients (33.7%) had received ≥12 months of treatment. Baseline characteristics of these patients were similar to those in the overall Avelumab arm:

Avelumab_chemotherapy_chart_image_2

Long OS and investigator-assessed PFS were observed in patients who received >=12 months of Avelumab treatment. In patients who received >=12 months of Avelumab treatment, median OS was not reached (95% CI 50.9 months – not evaluable):

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Median PFS was 26.7 months (95% CI 19.4-32.2):

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Among all treated patients in the overall Avelumab arm (n = 344), grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 67 (19.5%) and grade ≥3 immune-related adverse events occurred in 26 (7.6%). Among patients treated for ≥12 months (n = 118), grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events occurred after ≥12 months in 14 (11.9%) and grade ≥3 immune-related adverse events occurred after ≥12 months in 5 (4.2%):

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Dr. Aragon-Ching concluded her presentation discussing extended results of JAVELIN Bladder 100 for patients receiving ≥12 months of Avelumab first-line maintenance for advanced urothelial carcinoma with the following take-home messages:

  • In the JAVELIN Bladder 100 trial, 33.7% of randomized patients in the Avelumab arm received >=12 months of treatment. In this subgroup, median OS was not reached and median PFS was 26.7 months
  • Baseline characteristics of patients who received >=12 months of treatment were generally similar to those of patients in the overall Avelumab arm
  • Prolonged Avelumab first-line maintenance treatment was associated with an acceptable safety profile that was consistent with prior Avelumab monotherapy studies, and no new safety signals were identified with longer treatment duration
  • These results further support the use of Avelumab first-line maintenance until progression or unacceptable toxicity for all patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma that has not progressed with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy

Presented by: Jeanny B. Aragon-Ching, MD, GU Oncology, Inova Schar Cancer Institute, Fairfax, VA

Written by: Zachary Klaassen, MD, MSc – Urologic Oncologist, Assistant Professor of Urology, Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University/Medical College of Georgia, @zklaassen_md on Twitter during the 2022 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Hybrid Meeting, Paris, FR, Fri, Sept 9 – Tues, Sept 13, 2022. 

References:

  1. Powles T, Park SH, Voog E, et al. Avelumab Maintenance Therapy for Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma. N Engl J Med 2020 Sept 24;383(13):1218-1230.