%0 Journal Article
%T Pembrolizumab in the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma: clinical trial evidence and experience
%A Arjun V. Balar
%A Gopa Iyer
%A Michael Crist
%A Miles Hsu
%A William C. Huang
%J Archive of "Therapeutic Advances in Urology".
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1756287219839285
%X The treatment of advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC) has dramatically changed with the advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors that disrupt the T-cell inhibitory interaction between the programmed cell death (PD)-1 receptor and its ligand (PD-L1). Pembrolizumab, a highly specific, monoclonal antibody directed against PD-1, has demonstrated clinical efficacy as well as a favorable toxicity profile, and has emerged as a new standard of care in the treatment of advanced UC. This review will summarize clinical efficacy from recent trials that led to the approval of pembrolizumab in treating platinum-refractory advanced UC as well as treating patients who are ineligible for first-line cisplatin-containing chemotherapy. While immune checkpoint inhibition has reinvigorated the treatment landscape of advanced UC and generated a great deal of optimism, only a minority of patients benefit. Combination strategies with the goal of increasing response rates are desperately needed as are biomarkers predictive of response
%K advanced urothelial carcinoma
%K immunotherapy
%K PD-1
%K pembrolizumab
%U https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6452591/