Target trial emulation to evaluate the effect of immune-related adverse events on outcomes in metastatic urothelial cancer

2024

Impact of Immune-Related Adverse Events on Cancer Outcomes

Sample size: 335 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Renate Pichler, Josef Fritz, Sarah Maier, Melanie R. Hassler, Johanna Krauter, David D'Andrea, Ekaterina Laukhtina, Kilian Gust, Keiichiro Mori, Karl H. Tully, Dora Niedersuess-Beke, Lea Korber, Jasmin Alija Spiegelberg, Thomas Bauernhofer, José D. Subiela, Roman Mayr, Andreas Kronbichler, Marco Moschini, Jeremy Teoh, Benjamin Pradere, Shahrokh F. Shariat, Hanno Ulmer, Laura S. Mertens

Primary Institution: Medical University of Innsbruck

Hypothesis

Does the occurrence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) affect outcomes in metastatic urothelial cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors?

Conclusion

The study found that the occurrence of irAEs is not associated with better survival or improved response rates to treatment when accounting for immortal time bias.

Supporting Evidence

The study included 335 patients with a median follow-up of 21.1 months.
36.4% of patients developed immune-related adverse events during the study.
The presence of irAEs was initially associated with improved outcomes in naïve analyses but not in adjusted models.

Takeaway

This study looked at how side effects from cancer treatment can affect how well the treatment works. It found that these side effects don't actually help patients live longer or respond better to the treatment.

Methodology

The study used target trial emulation to assess the impact of irAEs on progression-free survival and overall survival in a multi-institutional retrospective cohort of metastatic urothelial cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.