Kidney cancer

Combination therapy with the HIF-2α inhibitor belzutifan and the multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib shows antitumor activity in people with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma, phase 2 study data show.

The CLEAR study has demonstrated a significant progression-free survival gain with use of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab for the first-line treatment of advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

A number of baseline variables, including age and PD-L1 expression level, may be linked to survival outcomes among people receiving PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma, meta-analysis data show.

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Treatment with cabozantinib gives patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma significantly more time without disease progression and toxicity relative to treatment with sunitinib, CABOSUN trial data show.

A phase 2 trial update for hypoxia-inducible factor-2α inhibitor MK-6482 in patients with treatment-naïve renal cell carcinoma associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease has been presented at the ESMO Virtual Congress 2020.

Previously untreated patients with advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma benefit from treatment with cabozantinib plus atezolizumab, suggest COSMIC-21 data.

The phase 3 CheckMate 9ER trial has demonstrated significantly improved outcomes with the combination of nivolumab and cabozantinib versus sunitinib in treatment-naïve patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Research has demonstrated an association between the gut microbiome composition and response to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Results from a meta-analysis support use of immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma.

Real-world study data show that a high proportion of patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma gain clinical benefit from treatment with cabozantinib following progression with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

A French team has drawn attention to the potential for drug–drug interactions between anticancer medications and agents being used or tested for the treatment of COVID-19.

The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab demonstrates antitumor activity and acceptable toxicity in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma previously exposed to PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors, say the authors of a chart review.

Results from two studies presented at the virtual 2020 ASCO Annual Meeting suggest that the strategy of using single-agent nivolumab followed by response-adaptive or salvage add-on ipilimumab cannot be recommended for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

This independent news story was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck KGa

Analyses of the CheckMate 025 and KEYNOTE-427 trials of nivolumab and pembrolizumab, respectively, have identified biomarkers associated with response to the individual agents in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

This independent news story was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck KGa

Research suggests that patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma with disease progression after immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy may benefit from the combination of lenvatinib and pembrolizumab.

This independent news story was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck KGa

For patients with treatment-naïve advanced renal cell carcinoma, pembrolizumab plus axitinib offers superior overall survival to sunitinib, confirms an updated analysis from the KEYNOTE-426 trial.

This independent news story was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer and Merck KGaA

Findings from an open-label phase 2 study suggest the first-in-class HIF-2α inhibitor MK-6482 has “promising efficacy and tolerability” in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma associated with von Hippel–Lindau disease.

The interleukin-6 receptor inhibitor tocilizumab warrants further investigation for the treatment of COVID-19 in patients with cancer, say the authors of a case report.