Evidence and experience for the management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma

Pazopanib in Metastatic Renal Cancer: A "Real-World" Experience at National Cancer Institute "Fondazione G. Pascale"

Pazopanib is an oral angiogenesis inhibitor, currently approved for treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) and soft tissue sarcoma. The present study analyzed the outcomes of pazopanib in first-line treatment of mRCC, in a single Italian cancer center. In the light of the retrospective, observational nature and the unselected population, our experience can be defined a "real-world" study. The medical records of 38 mRCC patients treated with front-line pazopanib were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. The progression free survival (PFS) and the overall survival (OS) were the primary endpoints, while secondary objectives included objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and treatment tolerability. Pazopanib achieved a median PFS (mPFS) of 12.7 months (95% CI, 6.9-18.5 months). The median OS (mOS) was 26.2 months (95% CI, 12.6-39.9 months); the observed ORR and DCR were 30.3 and 72.7%, respectively, with a median duration of response of 11 weeks. mPFS appeared not to be influenced by number of co-morbidities (< 3 vs. ≥3), gender, Fuhrman grade and age. Conversely, the ORR and the DCR positively affect the mPFS (HR = 0.05 [95% CI, 0.05-0.55], p = 0.01; HR = 0.10 [95% CI, 0.02-0.43], p = 0.002, respectively). A worse outcome was associated with a lower mPFS in patients with liver metastases (p = 0.2) and with a high tumor burden (number of metastatic sites < 6 vs. ≥6) (p = 0.08). Worst OS was observed in patients aged ≥70 years old (HR = 6.91 [95% CI, 1.49-31.91], p = 0.01). The treatment was well-tolerated: no grade 4 adverse events, nor discontinuation due to toxicities was reported. Grade 3 hypertension affected positively the OS reaching the statistical significance (HR = 0.22 [95% CI, 0.05-0.8], p = 0.03). Thyroid dysfunction (hypo and hyperthyroidism) seems to correlate with better outcome in terms of a longer mPFS (HR = 0.12 [95% CI, 0.02-0.78], p = 0.02). Our results are consistent with those reported in prospective phase III trials and the published retrospective "real world" experiences. This analysis confirms the safety and efficacy of pazopanib in first-line setting, both in frail patients with multiple co-morbidities and Karnofsky PS < 80% and in younger, healthier patients with a number of metastatic sites < 6.

Treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with renal cell carcinoma in the UK: insights from the RECCORD registry

BACKGROUND

The aim of the RECCORD registry was to gather real-world UK data on the use of targeted therapies in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and assess clinical outcomes. Here, demographic and outcome data are presented with the treatment patterns and demographic profile of patients on the registry.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients were retrospectively identified at seven UK hospitals with large cancer centres in England (5), Scotland (1) and Wales (1). Anonymised data were collected through an online registry covering demographics, treatments and outcomes. Five hundred and fourteen UK adult patients with metastatic RCC were included in the study for analysis. Patients were included if they were treated for metastatic RCC at one of the seven centres, and started systemic anti-cancer treatment from March 2009 to November 2012 inclusive. In addition to demographic factors, the principal outcome measures were overall survival (OS), time to disease progression and toxicity.

RESULTS

The majority of first-line treatment was with sunitinib; first-line use of pazopanib increased as the study progressed. 15.8% of patients received second-line treatment, half of whom were prescribed everolimus. Median OS (from initiation of first-line treatment) was 23.9 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 18.6-29.1 months), similar to that reported for clinical trials of targeted RCC therapies [Ljungberg B, Campbell SC, Choi HY et al. The epidemiology of renal cell carcinoma. Eur Urol 2011; 60: 615-621; Abe H, Kamai T. Recent advances in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Int J Urol 2013; 20: 944-955; Motzer RJ, Hutson TE, Tomczak P et al. Overall survival and updated results for sunitinib compared with interferon alfa in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. J Clin Oncol 2009; 27: 3584-3590]. OS was significantly longer for those who received second-line treatment after disease progression (33.0 months; 95% CI 30.8-35.2 months) than those who did not (20.9 months; 95% CI 16.4-25.3 months; P = 0.008).

CONCLUSIONS

RECCORD is a large 'real-world' database assessing metastatic RCC treatment patterns and outcomes. Treatment patterns changed over time as targeted therapies were approved and became widely available; survival data in RECCORD are consistent with those reported for systemic treatments in clinical trials. Kaplan-Meier analysis of results demonstrated that receiving second-line therapy was a major prognostic factor for longer OS.