2. Academic Validation
  3. Erdafitinib or Chemotherapy in Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

Erdafitinib or Chemotherapy in Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

  • N Engl J Med. 2023 Nov 23;389(21):1961-1971. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2308849.
Yohann Loriot 1,  Nobuaki Matsubara 1,  Se Hoon Park 1,  Robert A Huddart 1,  Earle F Burgess 1,  Nadine Houede 1,  Severine Banek 1,  Valentina Guadalupi 1,  Ja Hyeon Ku 1,  Begoña P Valderrama 1,  Ben Tran 1,  Spyros Triantos 1,  Yin Kean 1,  Sydney Akapame 1,  Kris Deprince 1,  Sutapa Mukhopadhyay 1,  Nicole L Stone 1,  Arlene O Siefker-Radtke 1,  THOR Cohort 1 Investigators
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 From the Department of Cancer Medicine, INSERM Unité 981, Gustave Roussy, Université Paris-Saclay, Villejuif (Y.L.), the Department of Medical Oncology, Institut de Cancérologie du Gard, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Caremeau, Nîmes (N.H.), and Montpellier University, Montpellier (N.H.) - all in France; the Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Chiba, Japan (N.M.); the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine (S.H.P.), and Seoul National University Hospital (J.H.K.) - both in Seoul, South Korea; the Section of Radiotherapy and Imaging, Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Sutton, United Kingdom (R.A.H.); Medical Oncology, Levine Cancer Institute, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC (E.F.B.); the Department of Urology, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (S.B.); the Department of Medical Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan (V.G.); the Department of Medical Oncology, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Seville, Spain (B.P.V.); the Department of Medical Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia (B.T.); Janssen Research and Development, Spring House, PA (S.T., Y.K., S.A., N.L.S.); Janssen Research and Development, Beerse, Belgium (K.D.); Janssen Research and Development, Raritan, NJ (S.M.); and the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston (A.O.S.-R.).
PMID: 37870920 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2308849
Abstract

Background: Erdafitinib is a pan-fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor approved for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma in adults with susceptible FGFR3/2 alterations who have progression after platinum-containing chemotherapy. The effects of erdafitinib in patients with FGFR-altered metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have progression during or after treatment with checkpoint inhibitors (anti-programmed cell death protein 1 [PD-1] or anti-programmed death ligand 1 [PD-L1] agents) are unclear.

Methods: We conducted a global phase 3 trial of erdafitinib as compared with chemotherapy in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma with susceptible FGFR3/2 alterations who had progression after one or two previous treatments that included an anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive erdafitinib or the investigator's choice of chemotherapy (docetaxel or vinflunine). The primary end point was overall survival.

Results: A total of 266 patients underwent randomization: 136 to the erdafitinib group and 130 to the chemotherapy group. The median follow-up was 15.9 months. The median overall survival was significantly longer with erdafitinib than with chemotherapy (12.1 months vs. 7.8 months; hazard ratio for death, 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.47 to 0.88; P = 0.005). The median progression-free survival was also longer with erdafitinib than with chemotherapy (5.6 months vs. 2.7 months; hazard ratio for progression or death, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.78; P<0.001). The incidence of grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events was similar in the two groups (45.9% in the erdafitinib group and 46.4% in the chemotherapy group). Treatment-related adverse events that led to death were less common with erdafitinib than with chemotherapy (in 0.7% vs. 5.4% of patients).

Conclusions: Erdafitinib therapy resulted in significantly longer overall survival than chemotherapy among patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma and FGFR alterations after previous anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 treatment. (Funded by Janssen Research and Development; THOR ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03390504.).

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