A phase Ib study of combination of avelumab and taxane-based chemotherapy in platinum refractory or ineligible metastatic urothelial cancer (AVETAX study).
487 Background: Advanced bladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary system with 5-year OS rates of 5-7%. Platinum based chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors are currently available treatment options but with limited benefit. We hypothesize that combining Avelumab (anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy) with Docetaxel is safe and will lead to cancer cell death releasing neoantigens with enhanced anti-tumor immune mediated cytotoxicity. Methods: This is a phase 1b, single arm, non-randomized, open label prospective clinical trial to evaluate the combination of Avelumab and Docetaxel in adult subjects with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-containing chemotherapy. It has two phases: Phase 1b dose de-escalation of docetaxel (Level 0: 75, Level -1: 60 or Level -2: 45 mg/m2) with standard dose avelumab (10 mg/kg) to establish phase 2 dose in the standard 3+3 design. In the dose expansion phase, the phase 2 dose of docetaxel with avelumab will be evaluated for efficacy. The combination therapy is administered every 3 weeks for 6 cycles and then avelumab alone is continued every 2 weeks. Primary endpoint is safety. Efficacy endpoints include objective response rate, progression free survival and overall survival. Results: At the cutoff date of 10/21/2019, 10 eligible patients were enrolled in the study. Only one of the six patients treated with level 0 dose of docetaxel had a dose limiting toxicity (neutropenic fever). Docetaxel at 75 mg/m2 along the avelumab was deemed safe for dose expansion cohort. Additional 4 patients were enrolled in the dose expansion cohort. Efficacy data is preliminary with 1 patient achieving CR, 2 pts had PR, 2 pts had SD, 1 pt PD and 4 pts are not yet evaluable. The most common Grade 3 or 4 AEs were febrile neutropenia, urinary tract infection and confusion. No treatment related deaths were noted. Conclusions: The combination of docetaxel in combination with avelumab is safe and the preliminary data showed promising efficacy, further data to be presented at the meeting. Clinical trial information: NCT03575013.