Dr. Galsky on the Rationale of the CheckMate 274 Trial in Urothelial Carcinoma

Matthew Galsky, MD, professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology), director of genitourinary medical oncology, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai; codirector of the Center of Excellence for Bladder Cancer, and associate director for Translational Research at The Tisch Cancer Institute, discusses the rationale of the phase 3 CheckMate 274 trial (NCT02632409) in urothelial cancer.

CheckMate 274 evaluated adjuvant nivolumab (Opdivo) vs placebo in patients with high-risk, muscle-invasive urothelial cancer. Long-term data showed nivolumab maintained a disease-free survival benefit over placebo.

Radical surgery remains a standard treatment for muscle-invasive urothelial cancer, which involves removing the bladder for bladder cancer, or removing the kidney and the ureter for cancer of the upper urinary tract, Galsky explains. Despite surgery, a large subset of patients will still develop metastatic recurrence, Galsky says.

CheckMate 274 explored the use of adjuvant nivolumab as a systemic treatment to potentially decrease the risk of recurrence, Galsky concludes.