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Pembrolizumab plus enfortumab vedotin in urothelial cancer

Nature Reviews Urology (2024)Cite this article

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The combination of pembrolizumab and enfortumab vedotin shows promise as a first-line therapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma. Enfortumab vedotin targets nectin-4, in turn enhancing T cell and natural killer cell activity, inhibiting immunosuppressive pathways and impeding tumour evasion. This synergy with pembrolizumab shows potential in enhancing immunotherapy for these patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oncology Unit, Macerata Hospital, Macerata, Italy

    Matteo Santoni

  2. Department of Urology, Saitama Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan

    Hideki Takeshita

  3. Medical Oncology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Francesco Massari & Veronica Mollica

  4. Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Francesco Massari & Veronica Mollica

  5. 2nd Propaedeutic Department of Internal Medicine, ATTIKON University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece

    Aristotelis Bamias

  6. Department of Medical Oncology, San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, Rome, Italy

    Linda Cerbone

  7. Department of Oncology and Radiotherapeutics, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital in Pilsen, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    Ondrej Fiala

  8. Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic

    Ondrej Fiala

  9. Medical Oncology Unit, University Hospital of Parma – Department of Medicin and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    Sebastiano Buti

  10. Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome Italian Pasteur Institute, Cenci-Bolognetti Foundation, Rome, Italy

    Angela Santoni

  11. Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Joaquim Bellmunt

Authors
  1. Matteo Santoni
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  7. Veronica Mollica
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  8. Sebastiano Buti
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Contributions

M.S., F.M. and J.B. researched data for the article. All authors contributed substantially to discussion of the content. M.S. wrote the article. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript before submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesco Massari.

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Competing interests

M.S. has received research support and honoraria from Janssen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Ipsen, MSD, Astellas and Bayer, all unrelated to the present paper. F.M. has received research support and/or honoraria from Advanced Accelerator Applications, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS, Janssen, Ipsen, MSD and Pfizer outside the submitted work. L.C. has received honoraria for advisory boards, speaker engagements and scientific consultancy for educational purposes from AstraZeneca, EISAI, MSD, Ipsen, BMS and A.A.A., and is a past MSD employee in Medical Affairs. O.F. received honoraria from Novartis, Janssen, Merck and Pfizer for consultations and lectures unrelated to this project. S.B. has received honoraria for speaking at scientific events and advisory roles from AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Ipsen, Merck, Eisai, MSD, Novartis and Pfizer, and research funding from Novartis and Pfizer. J.B. reports institutional and personal, paid and unpaid support for research, advisory boards, consultancy and honoraria (all outside this work) from AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers-Squibb, EMD Serono, Merck, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi/Aventis, Up-To-Date and CME events (Peerview, OncLive), outside the submitted work; no speaker’s bureau. The other authors declare no competing interests.

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Santoni, M., Takeshita, H., Massari, F. et al. Pembrolizumab plus enfortumab vedotin in urothelial cancer. Nat Rev Urol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-024-00858-y

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