Speaking at the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California, USA, Jonathan Rosenberg (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA) said that the initial results from this trial – presented previously at the ESMO Congress 2019   – “showed very promising activity in terms of objective response rates [ORR], suggesting that a potential platinum free approach in this patient population is warranted.”

Thomas Powles discusses the key findings from the biomarker analyses of the JAVELIN Bladder 100 study of maintenance avelumab in patients with advanced urothelial cancer. This independent video interview was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Thomas Powles outlines the DANUBE trial pitting durvalumab, with or without tremelimumab, against chemotherapy in the metastatic urothelial cancer setting. This independent video interview was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

But he emphasized that “we need to see more mature data from this very important trial.” medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2020 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group ESMO Virtual Congress 2020: 19–21 September

A phase 2 trial update for hypoxia-inducible factor-2α inhibitor MK-6482 in patients with treatment-naïve renal cell carcinoma associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease has been presented at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020.

As reported simultaneously at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 and in The Lancet Oncology , the primary endpoint of OS in the PD-L1-high population was not significantly improved with single-agent durvalumab versus chemotherapy, at a median of 14.4 and 12.1 months, respectively, after a median follow-up of 41.2 months.

And he concluded that “the safety profile of pembrolizumab was in line with prior studies, with a lower rate of all-cause [adverse events] than chemotherapy.” medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2020 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group This independent news story was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany ESMO Virtual Congress 2020: 19–21 September

The initial findings for the phase 2 study were reported at the ESMO Congress in 2019 and updated results have now been presented at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020 by Yohann Loriot, from Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France.

And he highlighted the ongoing phase 3 CONTACT-3 study of cabozantinib with or without atezolizumab in RCC patients who have received prior immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2020 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group ESMO Virtual Congress 2020: 19–21 September

She added: “Ongoing phase 3 trials that will be presented soon are looking at different sequencing or combination approaches.” medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2020 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group This independent news story was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany ESMO Virtual Congress 2020: 19–21 September

The discussant also highlighted open questions worthy of investigation, such as using VEGFR–TKIs for a limited period at the start of combination therapy and “exploring different schedules of the available combinations.” medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Ltd. © 2020 Springer Healthcare Ltd, part of the Springer Nature Group ESMO Virtual Congress 2020: 19–21 September

As reported at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020, baseline PRO data, assessed using the EORTC QLQ-30 scale, were available for 363 participants who were randomly assigned to receive atezolizumab 1200 mg every 3 weeks alongside gemcitabine plus cisplatin or carboplatin and 327 patients who instead received placebo plus chemotherapy.

Andrea Apolo gives a top-line overview of the CheckMate 9ER study of nivolumab and cabozantinib, which she believes has added another option to the armamentarium for treatment-naïve, advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Yohann Loriot discusses the TROPHY-U-01 trial update confirming that sacituzumab govitecan is active in heavily pretreated metastatic urothelial cancer. This independent video interview was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Ajjai Alva discusses the negative KEYNOTE-361 trial findings for pembrolizumab with or without chemotherapy for treatment-naïve advanced urothelial cancer. This independent video interview was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck Healthcare KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Yann-Alexandre Vano provides an overview of the biomarker-driven BIONIKK trial in metastatic renal cell carcinoma, and outlines the research needed to implement the findings clinically.

Christopher Sweeney highlights the key questions arising from the primary endpoint analysis of the IPATential150 study of ipatasertib plus abiraterone in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.