Prospective clinical study of tislelizumab plus chemotherapy for locally advanced penile cancer

Locally advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma (LA PSCC) generally has a poor prognosis. A prospective study at Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital (China) evaluated the combination of tislelizumab (anti-PD-1) and chemotherapy for LA PSCC. Twenty patients received four to six 3-week cycles of tislelizumab, nab-paclitaxel, cisplatin, and bleomycin. Fifteen patients (75%) had a history of penectomy. The median number of treatment cycles was 4. The objective response rate was 75%. Seven patients (35%) underwent consolidative surgery, and eleven patients (55%) received a median of 7 cycles of maintenance immunotherapy. At a median follow-up of 29.3 months, the median progression-free survival was 12.5 months (95% CI 7.4-NE) and the median overall survival was 22.8 months (13.7-NE). Eight patients (40%) had grade 3 or 4 treatment-related adverse events. No treatment-related deaths occurred. The authors conclude that the combination of tislelizumab and chemotherapy demonstrated promising antitumor efficacy in LA-PSCC, with a manageable safety profile.