BMC Cancer (Oct 2023)

Effect of chemotherapy alone or combined with immunotherapy for locally advanced or metastatic genitourinary small cell carcinoma: a real-world retrospective study

  • Riqing Huang,
  • Meiting Chen,
  • Haifeng Li,
  • Xin An,
  • Cong Xue,
  • Anqi Hu,
  • Ditian Shu,
  • Wei Yang,
  • Fangjian Zhou,
  • Dan Sui,
  • Kai Yao,
  • Yonghong Li,
  • Zhiming Wu,
  • Zhiyong Li,
  • Zhuowei Liu,
  • Yanxia Shi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-023-11473-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 23, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Background Genitourinary small cell carcinoma is rare, and has a poor prognosis. However, effective treatment options for this disease are limited. We present a study to assess the efficacy of chemotherapy alone or combined with immunotherapy for locally advanced or metastatic genitourinary small cell carcinoma (GSCC). Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with locally advanced or metastatic GSCC from Jan 2013 to September 2022 at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. The survival and safety profiles were analyzed. Results Forty-two GSCC patients were enrolled, which included 20 with chemotherapy plus immunotherapy and 22 with chemotherapy alone. The median follow-up time was 15.13 months (95% CI, 8.84–21.42). The addition of immunotherapy to chemotherapy demonstrated no significant difference in median progression-free survival (p = 0.37). However, the median overall survival (OS) was 22.97 and 14.03 months with immunotherapy plus chemotherapy and chemotherapy alone, respectively (HR = 0.69, 95%CI 0.08–0.55, p = 0.017). Two patients with immunotherapy plus chemotherapy achieved clinical complete remission. The overall response rate for patients receiving chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy was 65%, which was higher in comparison to those treated with chemotherapy alone (50%). Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy independently achieved favorable OS. Four patients experienced immunotherapy-related adverse events, with one developing grade 3 hypothyroidism. Conclusions Among patients with locally advanced or metastatic GSCC, immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy might be thought of as a potentially effective treatment option for patients with GSCC.

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