Dr. Grigg on the Results of the CheckMate-214 Trial in RCC

Claud M. Grigg, Jr., MD, medical oncologist, Levine Cancer Institute-Ballantyne, Atrium Health, discusses the results of the CheckMate-214 trial in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

The randomized phase 3 CheckMate-214 trial evaluated the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) versus sunitinib (Sutent) in patients with previously untreated advanced or metastatic RCC. The study was one of the first to assess the role of combination therapy in the frontline setting, says Grigg. In the experimental arm, 550 patients received 3 mg/kg of nivolumab plus 1 mg/kg of ipilimumab every 3 weeks for 4 doses, followed by 3 mg/kg of nivolumab every 2 weeks. In the control arm, 546 patients received 50 mg of oral sunitinib once daily for a total of 4 weeks, followed by 2 weeks off before treatment continuation, Grigg explains.

At 4 years of follow-up, results of the CheckMate-214 trial showed a median overall survival of 48.1 months with the combination compared with 26.6 months with sunitinib. Notably, the study has longer-term follow-up data versus many other trials in the space. To date, patients appear to have derived durable responses with the combination of nivolumab/ipilimumab, Grigg concludes.