Patient and Disease-Related Factors Influence Outcomes in Urothelial Cancer

Factors like patient characteristics and disease-related features influence surgical recovery as well as treatment success following therapy with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv), according to Dr. Alireza Ghoreifi. The expert then went on to say that these findings highlight the impact of patients factors on outcomes for those with urothelial cancer treated with immunotherapy.

Notably, at the 2025 AUA Annual Meeting, investigators expanded on this topic by sharing data on perioperative outcomes of consolidative surgery following immunotherapy with Keytruda plus Padcev for patients with advanced urothelial cancer.

In order to best understand this topic, Ghoreifi sat down with CURE for an interview live from the 2025 AUA Meeting. In the interview, he discussed the key factors affecting perioperative recovery and overall treatment success for patients undergoing consolidative surgery following immunotherapy with treatment of Keytruda and Padcev.

Ghoreifi works with the House Staff and is a part of Duke Urologic Oncology Fellowship, Duke Urology, at Duke School of Medicine, located in Durham, North Caroline.

Transcript:

That's a good question. There are two main [categories of] factors that can affect surgical outcomes. One is patient factors. For example, high BMI. We know that patients who have high BMI [tend to have] worse surgical outcomes in certain procedures. Similarly, comorbidities — such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and smoking — are key factors that impact surgical outcomes. Controlling these modifiable factors can significantly optimize surgical outcomes in these patients.

The other category is disease-related features. The disease-related features are features that we try to modify through treatment, using novel immunotherapy agents to kill the cancer. The aim of all these clinical trials, surgery, and related studies is to achieve the optimal oncological outcomes for these patients. [This is] because these are the patients that, without treatment, the prognosis for these individuals is very poor.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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