Treatment selection for first-line metastatic renal cell carcinoma in Australia: Impact of new therapy options

Reshaping Treatment Paradigms for Advanced Renal Cell Cancer Patients and Improving Patient Management : Optimal Management for Renal Cell Cancer Patients

OPINION STATEMENT

The treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the great success stories in the field of oncology, which was revolutionized with the development of therapies aimed at disrupting crucial pathways. Tumor biology of RCC has provided insight into the disease through elucidation of the role of vascular endothelial growth-factor (VEGF) and the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Targeted agents against VEGF and mTOR, as well as agents targeting relevant immunomodulatory pathways, have shown clinical benefit for advanced disease. The targeted agents are highly effective in achieving a response and survival, particularly in high-risk patients. These include the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) axitinib and cabozantinib, and programmed cell death 1 protein (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) nivolumab and pembrolizumab. There is a wealth of evidence investigating different therapeutic options and combinations for first-line treatment of advanced RCC including the CheckMate 214 study, KEYNOTE-426, JAVELIN Renal 101, and CheckMate 9ER. Dual ICI and combination agents targeting the programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death protein ligand 1 (PD1/PDL1) and VEGF, began to demonstrate superiority over previously accepted standards in advanced clear-cell RCC. Data from a number of clinical studies are available to help physicians with evidence-based decisions for the sequence of second-line and future treatments for patients with progressive RCC. In this review, we focus on essentials for clinicians treating patients with clear-cell RCC.

Sorafenib as a second-line treatment in metastatic renal cell carcinoma in Mexico: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Sequential inhibition of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway with sorafenib could be useful for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Our aim was to determine the activity and tolerability of sorafenib as a second-line therapy in advanced RCC initially treated with a different VEGF-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).

METHODS

A prospective observational cohort in Mexico (2012-2019). We included 132 subjects with metastatic RCC and who had progression despite treatment with sunitinib. The primary end-point was time to disease progression as evaluated every 12-16 weeks.

RESULTS

The mean age of the cohort was 59 years (interquartile range [IQR] 50-72), 96 (73%) were men, and 48 (36%) had a favorable prognosis according to the IMDC (International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium) prognostic model. The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall-survival after the introduction of sorafenib treatment was 8.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.7-10.5) and 40 months (95% CI: 34.5-45.4) respectively. The median overall survival from RCC diagnosis to death was 71 months (95% CI: 58.2-83.8). On multivariable analyses, age > 65 years was associated with a longer PFS (HR 0.51; 95% CI: 0.31-0.86; p = 0.018). The median PFS in subjects aged > 65 years was longer compared to subjects ≤65 years (14.0 [95% CI: 9.2-18.8] vs. 7.2 months [95% CI: 5.3-9.1]; p = 0.012). Adverse events grade ≥ 3 associated with sorafenib occurred in 38 (29%) patients.

CONCLUSION

Sequential inhibition of VEGF with sorafenib as a second-line treatment may benefit patients with metastatic RCC, especially in subjects > 65 years old.

Construction and Validation of a Convenient Clinical Nomogram to Predict the Risk of Brain Metastasis in Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients

Brain metastasis (BM) is a typical type of metastasis in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. The early detection of BM is likely a crucial step for RCC patients to receive appropriate treatment and prolong their overall survival. The aim of this study was to identify the independent predictors of BM and construct a nomogram to predict the risk of BM. Demographic and clinicopathological data were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for RCC patients between 2010 and 2015. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the independent risk factors, and then, a visual nomogram was constructed. Multiple parameters were used to evaluate the discrimination and clinical value. We finally included 42577 RCC patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that histological type, tumor size, bone metastatic status, and lung metastatic status were independent BM-associated risk factors for RCC. We developed a nomogram to predict the risk of BM in patients with RCC, which showed favorable calibration with a C-index of 0.924 (0.903-0.945) in the training cohort and 0.911 (0.871-0.952) in the validation cohort. The calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) also demonstrated the reliability and accuracy of the clinical prediction model. The nomogram was shown to be a practical, precise, and personalized clinical tool for identifying the RCC patients with a high risk of BM, which not only will contribute to the more reasonable allocation of medical resources but will also enable a further improvements in the prognosis and quality of life of RCC patients.