Aims: In the JAVELIN Bladder 100 (NCT02603432) trial, which enrolled patients with aUC not progressing on first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy, avelumab first-line maintenance + best supportive care (BSC) significantly prolonged overall survival (OS) vs BSC alone (HR, 0.69 [95% CI: 0.56, 0.86; 1-sided P=0.0005]). However, optimal timing for starting avelumab after completing chemotherapy is unknown. We report efficacy by duration of treatment-free interval (TFI) after completion of first-line chemotherapy.
Methods: Patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic UC without disease progression following 4-6 cycles of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy were randomized to receive avelumab + BSC (n=350) or BSC alone (n=350) after a TFI of 4-10 weeks. This exploratory analysis evaluated subgroups with a TFI of 4 to <6, 6 to <8, or 8 to 10 weeks.
Results: In the avelumab + BSC and BSC alone arms, TFI was 4 to <6 weeks in 143 and 158 patients, 6 to <8 weeks in 109 and 80, and 8 to 10 weeks in 98 and 110, respectively. Baseline characteristics were generally well balanced between arms; however, for both arms combined, the TFI 4 to <6 weeks subgroup vs other subgroups included more patients with visceral metastases, an objective response to first-line chemotherapy, and ECOG performance status of 1. OS was prolonged with avelumab + BSC vs BSC alone in all subgroups (HR, 0.76 [95% CI: 0.546, 1.059] for TFI 4 to <6 weeks; 0.64 [95% CI: 0.404, 1.021] for TFI 6 to <8 weeks; and 0.70 [95% CI: 0.468, 1.035] for TFI 8 to 10 weeks).
Conclusions: Avelumab first-line maintenance prolonged OS irrespective of the TFI assessed in this study (4-10 weeks), further supporting this new treatment strategy as a standard of care. Differences in duration of TFI were likely related to individual patient/disease-specific characteristics or logistics and did not impact OS benefit.