Dr. Galsky on a Post-Treatment Nomogram in Urothelial Cancer

Matthew D. Galsky, MD, director, Genitourinary Medical Oncology, associate medical director, Cancer Clinical Trials Office, Mount Sinai Medical Center, The Tisch Cancer Institute, discusses the development of a post-treatment prognostic model following treatment with first-line chemotherapy for patients with metastatic urothelial cancer.

Data was pooled from 317 patients who were enrolled in 8 clinical trials that were evaluating first-line cisplatin in metastatic urothelial cancer. To create the post-treatment nomogram, established pretreatment variables were combined with response to treatment, the duration of chemotherapy, and the reason for stopping treatment.

The duration of treatment and treatment discontinuation were not found to correlate with changes in survival, Galsky notes. Overall, the only post-treatment factor that was associated with survival was response to chemotherapy. Following an independent validation, the nomogram contained 4 indicators: response to chemotherapy, number of visceral metastatic sites, ECOG performance status, and whole blood cell counts.

Galsky believes these findings are particularly important for patients who want to know what comes next after treatment. Additionally, it may help select patients who are eligible to participate in maintenance therapy trials.