ArticleCancer medicine2020
Impact of radiotherapy to the primary tumor on the efficacy of pembrolizumab for patients with advanced urothelial cancer: A preliminary study.
Article in Cancer medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multidimensional explanations and future perspectives on the limited efficacy of immunotherapy in prostate cancer.Asian journal of andrology · 2026Review
- Efficacy and safety of combining radiotherapy with first-line chemotherapy and immunotherapy for local advanced/metastatic urothelial cancer: a propensity score matching analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- FLASH radiotherapy as an emerging paradigm in radioimmunotherapy: biological rationale, preclinical evidence, and translational roadmap.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Response to First-Line Chemotherapy Predicts Response to Maintenance Avelumab Therapy in Japanese Patients With Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma.International journal of urology : official journal of the Japanese Urological Association · 2025Article
- Clinical Outcome and Safety of Combined Radiation Therapy and Maintenance Avelumab for Bladder Cancer: A Case Series.Cureus · 2025Article
- Radiotherapy plus pembrolizumab for advanced urothelial carcinoma: results from the ARON-2 real-world study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Durable response to nivolumab rechallenge in a patient with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.IJU case reports · 2024Article
- Global research landscape and trends of cancer radiotherapy plus immunotherapy: A bibliometric analysis.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Bladder Cancer Invading the Prostate and Penis and Multiple Bone Metastases Showing Significant Improvement after a Short-Term Pembrolizumab Therapy following Radiation and Gemcitabine and Cisplatin Therapy Leading to a Pathologically Complete Remission.Case reports in urology · 2024Article
- Radiotherapy remodels the tumor microenvironment for enhancing immunotherapeutic sensitivity.Cell death & disease · 2023Review
- Impact of sarcopenia in bladder preservation therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients: a narrative review.Translational andrology and urology · 2022Review
- Clinical evidence for synergy between immunotherapy and radiotherapy (SITAR).Journal of medical imaging and radiation oncology · 2022Review
- Significant Improvement of Prognosis After the Advent of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Patients with Advanced, Unresectable, or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma: A Propensity Score Matching and Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting Analysis on Real-World Data.Cancer management and research · 2022Article
- Combination of Cisplatin and Irradiation Induces Immunogenic Cell Death and Potentiates Postirradiation Anti-PD-1 Treatment Efficacy in Urothelial Carcinoma.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Impact of radiotherapy to the primary tumor on the efficacy of pembrolizumab for patients with advanced urothelial cancer: A preliminary study.Cancer medicine · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
19 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Radiotherapy plus immune checkpoint inhibitors can potentially induce synergistic antitumor immune responses. However, little clinical evidence is established regarding their combination therapy. Here, we aimed to assess whether radiotherapy to the primary tumor impacts on the efficacy of pembrolizumab in advanced urothelial cancer. We retrospectively reviewed 98 advanced urothelial cancer patients receiving pembrolizumab in a second- or later-line setting using our multicenter cohort. Patients were categorized according to a history of radiotherapy to the primary tumor: patients previously exposed to radiotherapy to the primary tumor (Radiotherapy group, 17 patients [17%]) and those not (Nonradiotherapy group, 81 patients [83%]). The associations of radiotherapy to the primary tumor with objective response and survival were evaluated. The Radiotherapy group showed a significantly higher objective response ratio than did the Non-radiotherapy group (65% vs 19%; P < .001). The Radiotherapy group had a higher progression-free survival rate compared with the Nonradiotherapy group (52% vs 28% at 12 months; P = .078), but statistical significance was not reached. The Radiotherapy group had a significantly higher overall survival rate compared with the Non-radiotherapy group (77% vs 50% at 12 months; P = .025). From multivariate analysis, radiotherapy to the primary tumor was an independent predictor for longer overall survival (hazard ratio, 0.31; P = .032) along with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤1 and the absence of visceral metastasis. Therefore, radiotherapy to the primary tumor may enhance the efficacy of pembrolizumab for patients with advanced urothelial cancer.
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