Dr. McGregor on the Focus of Future Research Efforts in RCC

Bradley McGregor, MD, clinical director, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, senior physician, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and instructor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, discusses the focus of future research efforts in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

 Over the past 4 years, several frontline combination strategies have demonstrated significantly improved overall survival compared with historical standards for patients with RCC, McGregor explains. For example, in April 2018, the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) received FDA approval for the first-line treatment of patients with intermediate- and poor-risk RCC. In addition, the frontline combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and axitinib (Inlyta) was approved by the FDA in May 2019 for the treatment of patients with advanced RCC, McGregor says.

 Moreover, on October 19, 2020, the FDA granted a priority review designation to a supplemental biologics license application and supplemental new drug application for nivolumab plus cabozantinib (Cabometyx) for the treatment of patients with advanced RCC.

However, not all patients respond to combination therapy with VEGF TKIs and immunotherapy, McGregor says. Initial data suggest that 6% to 25% of patients who receive combination therapy have progressive disease as the best response. As such, future research efforts should aim to develop novel treatment approaches to improve responses, McGregor concludes.