Cited 29 times since 2023 (12.5 per year) source: EuropePMC Nature medicine, Volume 29, Issue 3, 2 1 2023, Pages 588-592 High- or low-dose preoperative ipilimumab plus nivolumab in stage III urothelial cancer: the phase 1B NABUCCO trial. van Dorp J, Pipinikas C, Suelmann BBM, Mehra N, van Dijk N, Marsico G, van Montfoort ML, Hackinger S, Braaf LM, Amarante T, van Steenis C, McLay K, Daletzakis A, van den Broek D, van de Kamp MW, Hendricksen K, de Feijter JM, Boellaard TN, Meijer RP, van der Heijden AG, Rosenfeld N, van Rhijn BWG, Jones G, van der Heijden MS
Cohort 1 of the phase 1B NABUCCO trial showed high pathological complete response (pCR) rates with preoperative ipilimumab plus nivolumab in stage III urothelial cancer (UC). In cohort 2, the aim was dose adjustment to optimize responses. Additionally, we report secondary endpoints, including efficacy and tolerability, in cohort 2 and the association of presurgical absence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in urine and plasma with clinical outcome in both cohorts. Thirty patients received two cycles of either ipilimumab 3 mg kg-1 plus nivolumab 1 mg kg-1 (cohort 2A) or ipilimumab 1 mg kg-1 plus nivolumab 3 mg kg-1 (cohort 2B), both followed by nivolumab 3 mg kg-1. We observed a pCR in six (43%) patients in cohort 2A and a pCR in one (7%) patient in cohort 2B. Absence of urinary ctDNA correlated with pCR in the bladder (ypT0Nx) but not with progression-free survival (PFS). Absence of plasma ctDNA correlated with pCR (odds ratio: 45.0; 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.9-416.5) and PFS (hazard ratio: 10.4; 95% CI: 2.9-37.5). Our data suggest that high-dose ipilimumab plus nivolumab is required in stage III UC and that absence of ctDNA in plasma can predict PFS. ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT03387761 .
