Clinical pharmacology of monoclonal antibodies targeting anti-PD-1 axis in urothelial cancers

Abstract

Chemotherapy is the reference treatment for patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma, both in the neo-adjuvant and adjuvant settings; however, the overall outcome remains poor in this patient population. In the last few years, the addition of immune checkpoint inhibitors into the therapeutic armamentarium has changed the therapeutic landscape of several tumor types, including urothelial carcinoma. Many different molecules have been introduced on the market and several questions about immunotherapies are currently open and deserve a critical analysis. The current review article is aimed at describing the clinical pharmacology of monoclonal antibodies targeting PD-1 axis in urothelial malignancies to underline possible pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic differences among them.

Keywords: PD-L1 inhibitors; Pharmacodynamics; Pharmacokinetics; Urothelial cancer.