Cancer-induced Pain Is Associated With Poor Overall Survival of Urothelial Carcinoma Patients Treated With Enfortumab Vedotin.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Cancer-induced pain (CIP) exacerbates patient's quality of life. However, it is unknown whether CIP is associated with survival in urothelial carcinoma (UC) patients treated with enfortumab vedotin (EV). This study retrospectively investigated the prognostic significance of CIP in EV-treated UC patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We analyzed clinical data from patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC who received EV treatment, assessing various factors such as age, metastasis site, ECOG Performance Status (PS), and CIP status prior to treatment. CIP was determined based on clinical records cancer-related pain or the use of analgesics for pain management.

RESULTS

A total of 114 patients (78 males and 36 females) were included in the study. The group with CIP included significantly higher number of patients with bone metastasis. Progression-free survival of the patients with CIP was not significantly different from those without CIP. However, the patients with CIP showed worse overall survival (OS) than those without CIP. Cox proportional regression analysis showed that CIP, liver metastasis, and ECOG PS were significant predictors of poorer OS.

CONCLUSION

CIP before the treatment of EV was a significant predictor of reduced OS in patients with UC. Early management of CIP or initiation of EV therapy before CIP development may improve survival outcomes.