# Efficacy and safety of antibody-drug conjugate combination therapy in advanced urothelial carcinoma

**Authors:** Salvador Jaime-Casas, Regina Barragan-Carrillo, Miguel Zugman, Koral Shah, Hedyeh Ebrahimi, Benjamin Mercier, Daniela V. Castro, Peter D. Zang, Alexis LeVee, Wesley Yip, Xiaochen Li, Nazli Dizman, Nicholas J. Salgia, Zeynep Zengin, Luis Meza, JoAnn Hsu, Charles B. Nguyen, Alexander Chehrazi-Raffle, Sumanta K. Pal, Abhishek Tripathi

PMC · DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1669526 · Frontiers in Oncology · 2025-10-07

## TL;DR

This study reviews how well antibody-drug conjugate combinations work and their safety in treating advanced urothelial carcinoma.

## Contribution

A systematic review of ADC-combination therapy efficacy and safety in advanced urothelial carcinoma using clinical trial data.

## Key findings

- ADC-combination regimens showed a pooled objective-response rate of 65% in advanced urothelial carcinoma.
- The most common adverse events included peripheral sensory neuropathy, fatigue, and diarrhea.
- Toxicity profiles varied by ADC type, with distinct side effects for anti-nectin-4, anti-TROP2, and anti-HER2 regimens.

## Abstract

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are revolutionizing the treatment landscape of advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC). We systematically reviewed the PubMed and Embase databases for published clinical trials evaluating ADC-combination regimens in aUC. We extracted safety and efficacy outcomes, including objective-response rate (ORR), adverse events (AEs), and ≥ grade 3 AEs. We excluded narrative reviews, retrospective studies, and case reports. Two independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts for relevance, followed by a full-text review for eligibility. A total of 645 patients from 5 trials investigating anti-nectin-4 (enfortumab vedotin, EV), anti-TROP2 (sacituzumab govitecan, SG), and anti-HER2 (disitamab vedotin, DV) ADCs were identified. We recorded a pooled ORR of 65%. We recorded a pooled risk rate for all-grade toxicity of 57%. The most prevalent any-grade AEs were peripheral sensory neuropathy 52% (95% CI, 45%-59%), fatigue 45% (95% CI, 28%-64%), and diarrhea 42% (95% CI, 16%-74%). Peripheral sensory neuropathy, fatigue, and alopecia were more commonly observed in anti-nectin-4 regimens. Gastrointestinal (diarrhea and nausea) and hematologic (anemia and neutropenia) toxicities were more commonly observed in anti-TROP2 regimens. Hepatotoxicity was predominantly found in anti-HER2 regimens. While ADC-based combination regimens show promising responses, they also have high rates of AEs in patients with aUC.

## Linked entities

- **Proteins:** NECTIN4 (nectin cell adhesion molecule 4), TACSTD2 (tumor associated calcium signal transducer 2), ERBB2 (erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2)
- **Diseases:** urothelial carcinoma (MONDO:0040679)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** NECTIN4 (nectin cell adhesion molecule 4) [NCBI Gene 81607] {aka EDSS1, LNIR, PRR4, PVRL4, nectin-4}, ERBB2 (erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 2) [NCBI Gene 2064] {aka CD340, HER-2, HER-2/neu, HER2, MLN 19, MLN-19}, TACSTD2 (tumor associated calcium signal transducer 2) [NCBI Gene 4070] {aka EGP-1, EGP1, GA733-1, GA7331, GP50, M1S1}
- **Diseases:** alopecia (MESH:D000505), Peripheral sensory neuropathy (MESH:D010523), fatigue (MESH:D005221), aUC (MESH:D014523), nausea (MESH:D009325), neutropenia (MESH:D009503), anemia (MESH:D000740), toxicities (MESH:D064420), diarrhea (MESH:D003967), Gastrointestinal (MESH:D005767)
- **Chemicals:** disitamab vedotin (MESH:C000722994), sacituzumab govitecan (MESH:C000608132), enfortumab vedotin (MESH:C000632577)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

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## Figures

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## References

15 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12537358/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12537358