Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) who received perioperative durvalumab (D) in NIAGARA.
4503 Background: In the phase 3 NIAGARA trial (NCT03732677) of patients (pts) with cisplatin-eligible MIBC, addition of perioperative D to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival compared with NAC alone, and a 10% higher pathological complete response (pCR) rate, with a manageable safety profile and no impact on the feasibility of surgery. Here, we report a planned exploratory analysis of ctDNA and association with clinical outcomes from NIAGARA. Methods: NIAGARA enrolled cisplatin-eligible pts with MIBC (cT2-T4aN0/1M0) planned for radical cystectomy (RC). Pts were randomized 1:1 to receive either neoadjuvant D (1500 mg IV Q3W) and NAC (cisplatin + gemcitabine IV Q3W) for 4 cycles followed by RC, then adjuvant D monotherapy (1500 mg IV Q4W) for 8 cycles (D arm), or NAC followed by RC alone (comparator [C] arm). Dual primary endpoints were pCR and EFS. Disease-free survival (DFS) was a secondary endpoint. Plasma ctDNA was assessed using the Signatera personalized, tumor-informed molecular residual disease (MRD) assay (Natera, Inc, Austin, TX, USA). ctDNA was assessed at baseline (screening or neoadjuvant C1D1, n = 460), after neoadjuvant treatment prior to RC (pre-RC, n = 422), and at C1D1 of the adjuvant phase (post-RC, n = 345). Results: Of 1063 randomized pts, 462 comprised the biomarker-evaluable population (237 D arm; 225 C arm). Patient characteristics were similar to the ITT population. Overall, the ctDNA+ rate at baseline was 57% (260/460) and decreased to 22% (94/422) after neoadjuvant treatment at pre-RC. ctDNA clearance rates from baseline to pre-RC were 41% in the D arm and 31% in the C arm. The non-pCR rate was 97% (86/89) among pts with pre-RC ctDNA+ status. Overall ctDNA+ rate post-RC was 9% (31/345). EFS benefit in the D arm vs the C arm was observed in both the baseline ctDNA+ and ctDNA− groups (Table). DFS benefit with perioperative D was observed in post-RC ctDNA+ and ctDNA− groups (Table). Conclusions: In this exploratory analysis, ctDNA+ status at pre-RC was associated with non-pCR. Higher ctDNA clearance from baseline to pre-RC in the D arm indicated the additional benefit of D plus NAC vs NAC alone. Perioperative D provided an EFS benefit to both pts with ctDNA+ and ctDNA− status at baseline; a similar trend was observed with DFS based on ctDNA status post-RC. These results further support the perioperative D regimen for pts with MIBC. Funding : AstraZeneca. Clinical trial information: NCT03732677 . EFS DFS Baseline ctDNA+ Baseline ctDNA- Post-RC ctDNA+ Post-RC ctDNA- D C D C D C D C n 137 123 99 101 9 8 129 126 Median (95% CI), months NR (NR–NR) 32.3(24.3–NR) NR(NR–NR) NR(NR–NR) 9.5(2.8–NR) 6.2(2.9–NR) NR(NR–NR) NR(NR–NR) Hazard ratio(95% CI) 0.73(0.51–1.06) 0.45(0.25–0.84) NC* 0.49(0.28–0.84) CI, confidence interval; NC, not calculable; NR, not reached. *NC due to <20 events between arms.
Authors
- Hiroaki Kikukawa
- Lorenzo Antonuzzo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3349-5604)
- Svetlana Ho
- Joshua J. Meeks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5444-5510)
- Matthew D. Galsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7655-9378)
- Hikmat A Al‐Ahmadie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2938-6627)
- James W.F. Catto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2787-8828)
- Amir Mortazavi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2122-6805)
- Yashaswi Shrestha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5567-0277)
- Vagif Atduev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4478-7282)
- Yousef Zakharia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9480-2626)
- Wenjing Xin
- Toan Quang Vu
- Hiroyuki Nishiyama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7423-596X)
- Thomas Powles
- Bernhard J. Eigl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1653-6929)
- Ying Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5862-2239)
- Tae‐Hwan Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7711-9534)
- Kazuo Nishimura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8869-3355)
- Michiel Simon Van Der Heijden
Institutions
- Northwestern University (US)
- University of Iowa (US)
- BC Cancer Agency (CA)
- St Bartholomew's Hospital (GB)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
- University of Tsukuba (JP)
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- Dutch Cancer Society (NL)
- The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NL)
- Kyungpook National University (KR)
- AstraZeneca (Japan) (JP)
- Vietnam National Children's Hospital (VN)
- AstraZeneca (Sweden) (SE)
- AstraZeneca (Spain) (ES)
- AstraZeneca (United States) (US)
- Osaka International Cancer Institute (JP)
- Kumamoto Medical Center (JP)
- University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center
- University of Florence (IT)
- Federal Medical-Biological Agency (RU)
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Published
- 2025-05-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2025.43.16_suppl.4503
- Citations
- 26
- Primary Topic
- Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 24.34