Urinary Bladder Cancer, Muscle-invasive
Conditions
Keywords
Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (MIBC), Enfortumab vedotin (EV), Pembrolizumab (MK-3475)
Brief summary
This is a study of perioperative pembrolizumab or enfortumab vedotin in combination with pembrolizumab in participants who are cisplatin-ineligible or decline cisplatin with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). The primary hypothesis is that perioperative pembrolizumab plus radical cystectomy (RC) plus pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) and perioperative enfortumab vedotin in combination with pembrolizumab plus RC+PLND will achieve superior event-free survival (EFS) compared with RC+PLND alone. With Amendment 5, outcome measures for programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score (CPS) were removed. With Amendment 8, the primary outcome measure of pathologic complete response (pCR) rates was changed to a secondary outcome measure.
Interventions
DRUGPembrolizumab
Pembrolizumab 200 mg by intravenous (IV) infusion, given on Day 1 of each 21-day cycle.
Surgical RC+PLND will be done in accordance with the American Urological Association (AUA)/American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)/American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)/Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) guidelines.
DRUGEnfortumab Vedotin
Enfortumab vedotin 1.25 mg/kg by intravenous (IV) infusion, given on Days 1 and 8 of each 21-day cycle.
Sponsors
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
Seagen Inc.
Astellas Pharma Global Development, Inc.
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Have a histologically confirmed diagnosis of urothelial carcinoma/muscle-invasive bladder cancer \[MIBC\] (cT2-T4aN0M0 or T1-T4aN1M0) with predominant (≥50%) urothelial histology to be confirmed by Blinded Independent Central Review (BICR) (central pathology and/or imaging). * Clinically nonmetastatic bladder cancer determined by imaging * Eligible for radical cystectomy (RC) + pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND), and agreement to undergo curative intent standard RC + PLND (including prostatectomy if applicable) * Ineligible for treatment with cisplatin, as defined by meeting at least one of the following criteria OR be eligible for treatment with cisplatin but decline treatment with cisplatin-based chemotherapy: * Impaired renal function with measured or calculated creatinine clearance (CrCl) 30 to 59 mL/min (calculated by Cockcroft-Gault method, Modification of Diet of Renal Disease \[MDRD\] equations, or measured by 24-hour urine collection) * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status 2 * Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v.4 Grade ≥2 audiometric hearing loss * New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III heart failure * Transurethral resection (TUR) of a bladder tumor that is submitted for central pathology assessment and adequate to determine urothelial histology and PD-L1 expression assessment * ECOG performance status of 0, 1, or 2 * Adequate organ function * A male participant is eligible to participate if he agrees to use contraception and refrain from donating sperm during the intervention period and for at least 180 days after the last dose of enfortumab vedotin. If the male participants are receiving pembrolizumab only or undergoing surgery only, there are no contraception requirements * A female participant is eligible to participate if she is not pregnant, not breastfeeding, and at least 1 of the following conditions applies: Not a (woman of childbearing potential) WOCBP or a WOCBP who agrees to use a highly effective contraceptive method or be abstinent from heterosexual intercourse (as their preferred and usual lifestyle) during the intervention period and for at least 120 days after the last dose of pembrolizumab and at least 180 days after the last dose of enfortumab vedotin; whichever comes last. A female participant must agree not to donate eggs during this period as well * A WOCBP must have a negative highly sensitive pregnancy test within 24 hours before the first dose of study intervention
Exclusion criteria
* Known additional nonurothelial malignancy that is progressing or has required active anticancer treatment ≤3 years of study randomization, with certain exceptions * Has ≥ N2 or metastatic disease (M1) as identified by imaging * Received any prior systemic treatment, chemoradiation, and/or radiation therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) or non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) * Received prior therapy with an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), or anti-programmed cell death 1 ligand 2 (PD-L2), or with an agent directed to another stimulatory or coinhibitory T-cell receptor * Received prior systemic anticancer therapy including investigational agents within 3 years prior to randomization * Received any prior radiotherapy to the bladder * Received a partial cystectomy of the bladder to remove any non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) or MIBC * Received a live or live-attenuated vaccine within 30 days before the first dose of study intervention * Current participation in or participation in a study of an investigational agent or use of an investigational device within 4 weeks prior to the first dose of study intervention * Ongoing sensory or motor neuropathy Grade 2 or higher * Diagnosis of immunodeficiency or receipt of chronic systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior the first dose of study drug. Physiologic replacement doses of corticosteroids are permitted for participants with adrenal insufficiency. * Hypersensitivity to monoclonal antibodies (including pembrolizumab) and/or any of their excipients * Severe hypersensitivity (≥ Grade 3) to enfortumab vedotin or any excipient contained in the drug formulation of enfortumab vedotin * Active keratitis or corneal ulcerations. Participants with superficial punctate keratitis are allowed if the disorder is being adequately treated in the opinion of the investigator * Active autoimmune disease that has required systemic therapy in past 2 years (i.e., with use of disease modifying agents, corticosteroids or immunosuppressive drugs). Replacement therapy (e.g., thyroxine, insulin, or physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency) is not considered a form of systemic therapy and is allowed * Has uncontrolled diabetes * History of (noninfectious) pneumonitis that required steroids, or current pneumonitis * Active infection requiring systemic therapy * Has had an allogeneic tissue/solid organ transplant
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Event-Free Survival (EFS) Between Arm C: Enfortumab Vedotin + Pembrolizumab + Surgery and Arm B: Surgery Alone | Up to approximately 53 months | EFS is defined as the time from randomization to the first occurrence of any of the following events: progression of disease that precludes radical cystectomy + pelvic lymph node dissection (RC + PLND) surgery, failure to undergo RC + PLND surgery in participants with residual disease and any radiographic disease present (biopsy-proven muscle-invasive bladder cancer \[MIBC\] will be considered an event regardless of radiographic findings), gross residual disease left behind at the time of surgery, local or distant recurrence as assessed by imaging and/or biopsy, or death due to any cause. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pathologic Downstaging (pDS) Rate Between Arm A and Arm B | Up to approximately 5.7 years | Pathologic downstaging rate is defined as the percentage of participants having pDS. pDS is defined as participants with a tumor classification of \<pT2 (includes pT0, pTis, pTa, pT1) and N0 in examined tissue from RC and PLND. |
| EFS Between Arm A and Arm B | Up to approximately 6.75 years | EFS is defined as the time from randomization to the first occurrence of any of the following events: progression of disease that precludes RC surgery or failure to undergo RC surgery in participants with residual disease (biopsy-proven muscle-invasive bladder cancer \[MIBC\] will be considered an event regardless of radiographic findings), gross residual disease left behind at the time of surgery, local or distant recurrence as assessed by imaging and/or biopsy, or death due to any cause. |
| Overall Survival (OS) Between Arm C and Arm B | Up to approximately 7.6 years | OS is defined as the time from randomization to death due to any cause. |
| OS Between Arm A and Arm B | Up to approximately 7.6 years | OS is defined as the time from randomization to death due to any cause. |
| Pathologic Complete Response (pCR) Rate Between Arm C and Arm B | Up to approximately 53 monhts | Pathologic complete response rate is defined as the percentage of participants having pCR. pCR is defined as absence of viable tumor (pT0N0) in examined tissue from RC and PLND, as assessed by blind independent central review (BICR). |
| pCR Rate Between Arm A and Arm B | Up to approximately 5.7 years | Pathologic complete response rate is defined as the percentage of participants having pCR. pCR is defined as absence of viable tumor (pT0N0) in examined tissue from RC and PLND, as determined centrally. |
| Pathologic Downstaging {pDS) Rate Between Arm C and Arm B | Up to approximately 53 months | Pathologic downstaging (pDS) is defined as participants with a tumor classification of \<pT2. The pathologic stage \<pT2 includes pT0 (No residual primary tumor found in the tissue examined), pTis (carcinoma in situ; a flat, non-invasive cancer confined to the epithelial lining), pTa (Non-invasive papillary carcinoma limited to the urothelium) pT1 (tumor has invaded the connective tissue beneath the urothelium, but not the muscle layer) and N0 (No cancer found in the examined lymph nodes) in examined tissue from RC and PLND. The \<pT2 category represents a better outcome than participants with residual muscle-invasive disease (pT2 or higher) and/or any nodal involvement (N1/N2). The percentage of participants with pDS is presented. |
| Number of Participants Experiencing Adverse Events (AEs) | Up to approximately 7.6 years | An AE is defined as any unfavorable and unintended sign, symptom, or disease (new or worsening) temporally associated with the use of study therapy, regardless of whether or not a causal relationship with the study therapy can be determined. |
| Number of Participants Discontinuing Study Drug Due to Adverse Events (AEs) | Up to approximately 1 year | An AE is defined as any unfavorable and unintended sign, symptom, or disease (new or worsening) temporally associated with the use of study therapy, regardless of whether or not a causal relationship with the study therapy can be determined. |
| Disease-Free Survival (DFS) | Up to approximately 6.75 years | DFS is defined as the time from first post-surgery baseline scan until: * local or distant recurrence as assessed by imaging and/or biopsy * Death due to any cause |
| Number of Participants Experiencing Perioperative Complications | Up to approximately 1 year | The number of participants who experience perioperative complications will be presented. |
Countries
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey (Türkiye), Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States
Contacts
STUDY_DIRECTORMedical Director
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
Participant flow
Pre-assignment details
Participants were randomized in two stages. In Stage 1, the study included two arms, with participants assigned 1:1 to Arm A (pembrolizumab plus surgery) or Arm B (surgery alone). In Stage 2, Arm C (enfortumab vedotin plus pembrolizumab and surgery) was added per Protocol Amendment 2, and participants were randomized 1:1:1 to Arms A, B, and C. As of Protocol Amendment 8, enrollment to Arm A stopped (except in France per ethics committee request), and randomization continued in Arms B and C only.
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | — |
|---|---|
| Age, Continuous | 72.1 Years STANDARD_DEVIATION 7.9 |
| Cisplatin Status Cisplatin-Eligible but Declined | 28 Participants |
| Cisplatin Status Cisplatin-Ineligible | 223 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino | 8 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino | 546 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 23 Participants |
| Geographic Region European Union (EU) | 73 Participants |
| Geographic Region Most of World (MOW) | 74 Participants |
| Geographic Region United States (US) | 73 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 31 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 7 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 11 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 1 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 485 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 135 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 130 Participants |
| Tumor Clinical Stage T1-4aN1 | 21 Participants |
| Tumor Clinical Stage T2N0 | 82 Participants |
| Tumor Clinical Stage T3/T4aN0 | 133 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk | EG002 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 76 / 166 | 111 / 259 | 38 / 170 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 143 / 163 | 94 / 242 | 163 / 167 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 107 / 163 | 94 / 242 | 97 / 167 |
Outcome results
None listed