PD-1 and PD-L1 Inhibitors as Salvage Therapy for Urothelial Carcinoma

For more than two decades, the only therapy that was proven to extend overall survival among patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma was cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy.1 First-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy yields a median overall survival of 14 to 15 months, coupled with 5-year survival among 5 to 15% of patients. Historically, salvage chemotherapy with vinflunine or a taxane after the receipt of platinum-based chemotherapy has resulted in a response in only approximately 10% of patients, with a dismal median overall survival of 6 to 8 months.2,3 Vinflunine was approved in multiple countries on the basis of a phase 3 trial that . . .