Dr. Hamieh on Characterization of Poor-Risk Metastatic Kidney Cancer

Lana Hamieh, MD, research fellow in Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, discusses characterization of patients with poor-risk metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Poor-risk patients are only occasionally enrolled in clinical trials, making them less likely to be characterized, explains Hamieh. A comprehensive analysis of poor-risk patients, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the International Metastatic Database Consortium, and the Hughes risk criteria, was collected in a clinical trials database.

Approximately 4,700 poor-risk patients receiving targeted treatment in phase II and III clinical trials were selected from the database. Using the poor-risk criteria, patients were then separated into either the total cohort of patients or a subset of patients who remained on therapy for more than 12 months. With the primary endpoint being overall survival, the patients were evaluated for overall response rate and toxicities.