Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly improved the outcome of patients with urothelial cancer. Several ICIs are currently approved in Belgium, such as pembrolizumab, avelumab, atezolizumab, and nivolumab. These ICIs were first evaluated in the metastatic setting, following failure of platinum-based chemotherapy. New strategies have been evaluated over the last years, including ICI plus chemotherapy, ICI monotherapy, or maintenance therapy, referring to introducing ICI after chemotherapy without waiting for disease progression. Other clinical trials are currently ongoing, which evaluate ICI in perioperative setting, be it neoadjuvant or adjuvant. This paper sought to review the current knowledge concerning ICIs in urothelial carcinoma, in addition to the new indications of these agents in this specific domain.
What is already known about the topic?
Immune checkpoint inhibitors have significantly improved the outcome of patients suffering from urothelial carcinoma being mainly in the metastatic setting.
What does this article bring up for us?
This article reviews the different strategies that have been evaluated in urothelial carcinoma, including association of chemotherapy and immunotherapy or maintenance concepts.
Key Words
Urothelial carcinoma, immunotherapy, PD-L1, chemotherapy