Genitourinary Cancers Symposium

San Francisco, CA—Sacituzumab govitecan, a novel antibody-drug conjugate directed against Trop-2, induced responses in nearly 33% of patients with heavily pretreated, relapsed or refrac­tory metastatic urothelial cancer.

San Francisco, CA—First-line therapy with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus ­axitinib (Inlyta) significantly improved overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and objective response rates compared with standard-of-care sunitinib (Sutent) in patients with clear-cell metastatic renal-cell carcinoma (RCC) in KEYNOTE-426. The combination of pembrolizumab plus axitinib achieved a significant 47% reduction in mortality risk versus sunitinib (P <.0001).

Orlando, FL—The incidence of bladder cancer is on the rise, and bladder cancer is 4 to 5 times more expensive to treat than breast or prostate cancer. The cost of bladder cancer treatment can be reduced by adhering to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network or the American Urological Association treatment guidelines.

Orlando, FL—Clinical trials involving immunotherapy have increased in the past few years, and the oncology community is eagerly awaiting the results. However, not so well-known is what happens to patients who receive immunotherapy outside of the clinical trial setting, including those who are not eligible for clinical trials.

Orlando, FL—One cycle of the bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) regimen had less toxicity and was as effective as 2 cycles in patients with high-risk, nonseminomatous or germ-cell tumors of the testis (NSGCTT), according to results of a large prospective trial called 111 presented at the 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Using 1 cycle of BEP as standard of care would reduce exposure to toxicity, and most patients with testicular cancer are relatively young.

Orlando, FL—The total costs of renal surgery are not limited to hospitalization but accrue long after discharge. According to data presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, most patients took more than 30 days off work after radical or partial nephrectomy, with the average estimated wages lost to unpaid time exceeding $10,000.

Orlando, FL—A new retrospective study of 87,562 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between January 2005 and June 2013 show that the incidence of prostate cancer and men with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) >10 decreased gradually between 2005 and 2011. However, the incidence of high-risk prostate cancer at diagnosis increased annually by 3% between 2011 and 2013, totaling 6%. This increase could lead to an additional 1400 prostate cancer deaths 10 years later.

Orlando, FL—Previous studies have shown that a history of testicular cancer increases the risk for developing prostate cancer. A new study presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium shows, for the first time ever, a link between a history of testicular cancer and an increased likelihood of intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer sometime in the future.

Orlando, FL—Active surveillance is sometimes used as management strategy in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, especially in older, sicker men with short life expectancy. A new study validates the use of active surveillance for men with low-risk prostate cancer but provides sobering data regarding this type of management for those with intermediate-risk prostate cancer. The study results were presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Orlando, FL—Surprisingly, the use of adjuvant sorafenib (Nexavar) and sunitinib (Sutent) failed to extend disease­-free survival (DFS) in patients with locally advanced kidney cancer who are at high risk for recurrence, according to initial results of the ASSURE study. The ASSURE trial is the first and largest study investigating the use of adjuvant tyrosine kinase inhibitors/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors in kidney cancer.