Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) accounts for the 5-10% of all urothelial carcinomas (UCs). In this analysis, we reported the real-world data from the ARON-2 study (NCT05290038) on the efficacy of pembrolizumab in patients with UTUC who recurred or progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy. Medical records of patients with metastatic UTUC treated with pembrolizumab as second-line therapy were reviewed from 34 institutions in 14 countries. Patients were assessed for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall response rate (ORR). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to explore the association of variables of interest with OS and PFS. 235 patients were included in our analysis. Median OS was 8.6 months (95% CI 6.6-12.1), the 1 year OS rate was 43% while the 2 years OS rate 29%. The median PFS was 5.1 months (95% CI 3.9-6.9); 46% of patients were alive at 6 months, 34% at 12 months and 25% at 24 months. According to RECIST 1.1, 18 patients (8%) experienced complete response (CR), 57 (24%) partial response (PR), 44 (19%) stable disease (SD), and 116 (49%) progressive disease (PD), with an ORR of 32%. Our study confirms the effectiveness of pembrolizumab in patients pretreated with a platinum-based combination, irrespective of their sensitivity to the first-line treatment and of their histology. In addition, we emphasized the limited benefit of the treatment with pembrolizumab in patients with hepatic metastases and poor ECOG performance status.

• Klíčová slova
• ARON-2 study, Immunotherapy, NCT05290038, Pembrolizumab, Real-world data, Survival, Tumor response, Upper tract urothelial cancer,
• MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• humanizované monoklonální protilátky * terapeutické užití   MeSH
• karcinom z přechodných buněk * farmakoterapie   patologie   mortalita   sekundární   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• protinádorové látky imunologicky aktivní terapeutické užití   MeSH
• retrospektivní studie MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• urologické nádory farmakoterapie   patologie   mortalita   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• multicentrická studie MeSH
• pozorovací studie MeSH
• Názvy látek
• humanizované monoklonální protilátky * MeSH
• pembrolizumab MeSH Prohlížeč
• protinádorové látky imunologicky aktivní MeSH

The addition of metastasis-directed radiotherapy (MDRT) to immunotherapy in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC) has shown promising results. We report the real-world data from the ARON-2 study (NCT05290038) on the impact of conventional (CRT) or stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) on the outcome of aUC patients receiving pembrolizumab after platinum-based-chemotherapy. Medical records of 837 patients were reviewed from 60 institutions in 20 countries. Two hundred and sixty-two patients (31%) received radiotherapy (cohort A), of whom 193 (23%) received CRT and 69 (8%) received SBRT. Patients were assessed for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall response rate (ORR). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to explore the association of variables of interest with OS and PFS. With a median follow-up of 22.7 months, the median OS was 10.2 months, 6.8 months and 16.0 months in no RT, CRT and SBRT subgroups (p = 0.005), with an 1y-OS rates of 47%, 34% and 61%, respectively (p < 0.001). The 1y-OS rate in the SBRT subgroup were significantly higher for both lower (63%) and upper tract UC (68%), for pure urothelial histology (63%) and variant histologies (58%), and for patients with bone (40%) and lymph-node metastases (61%). Median PFS was 4.8 months, 9.6 months and 5.8 months in the CRT, SBRT and no RT subgroups, respectively (p = 0.060). The 1y-PFS rate was significantly higher (48%) in the SBRT population and was confirmed in all patient subsets. The difference in terms of ORR was in favour of SBRT. Our real-world analysis showed that the use of SBRT/pembrolizumab combination may play a role in a subset of aUC patients to increase disease control and possibly overall survival.

• Klíčová slova
• ARON-2 study, Pembrolizumab, Radiation therapy, Real-world data, Stereotactic radiation therapy, Urothelial carcinoma,
• MeSH
• doba přežití bez progrese choroby MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• humanizované monoklonální protilátky * terapeutické užití   aplikace a dávkování   MeSH
• karcinom z přechodných buněk terapie   patologie   mortalita   farmakoterapie   MeSH
• kombinovaná terapie MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádory močového měchýře terapie   patologie   mortalita   farmakoterapie   MeSH
• protinádorové látky imunologicky aktivní terapeutické užití   MeSH
• radiochirurgie metody   MeSH
• retrospektivní studie MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• urologické nádory patologie   mortalita   terapie   farmakoterapie   MeSH
• výsledek terapie MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• multicentrická studie MeSH
• Názvy látek
• humanizované monoklonální protilátky * MeSH
• pembrolizumab MeSH Prohlížeč
• protinádorové látky imunologicky aktivní MeSH

BACKGROUND: Immune checkpoint inhibitors have changed previous treatment paradigm of advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC). The ARON-2 study (NCT05290038) aimed to assess the real-world effectiveness of pembrolizumab in patients recurred or progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Medical records of patients with documented metastatic UC treated by pembrolizumab as second-line therapy were retrospectively collected from 88 institutions in 23 countries. Patients were assessed for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall response rate (ORR). Cox proportional hazards models were adopted to explore the presence of prognostic factors. RESULTS: In total, 836 patients were included: 544 patients (65%) received pembrolizumab after progression to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy in the metastatic setting (cohort A) and 292 (35%) after recurring within < 12 months since the completion of adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy (cohort B). The median follow-up time was 15.3 months. The median OS and the ORR were 10.5 months and 31% in the overall study population, 9.1 months and 29% in cohort A and 14.6 months and 37% in cohort B. At multivariate analysis, ECOG-PS ≥ 2, bone metastases, liver metastases and pembrolizumab setting (cohort A vs B) proved to be significantly associated with worst OS and PFS. Stratified by the presence of 0, 1-2 or 3-4 prognostic factors, the median OS was 29.4, 12.5 and 4.1 months (p < 0.001), while the median PFS was 12.2, 6.4 and 2.8 months, respectively (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms that pembrolizumab is effective in the advanced UC real-world context, showing outcome differences between patients recurred or progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy.

• Klíčová slova
• ARON-2 study, Pembrolizumab, Real-world data, Survival, Tumor response, Urothelial cancer,
• MeSH
• adjuvancia imunologická MeSH
• humanizované monoklonální protilátky * MeSH
• karcinom z přechodných buněk * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádory močového měchýře * MeSH
• platina MeSH
• retrospektivní studie MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• klinická studie MeSH
• Názvy látek
• adjuvancia imunologická MeSH
• humanizované monoklonální protilátky * MeSH
• pembrolizumab MeSH Prohlížeč
• platina MeSH

• Publikační typ
• komentáře MeSH
• úvodníky MeSH