Dr. McKay on Unmet Needs for RCC

Rana R. McKay, MD, medical oncologist, assistant professor, Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, discusses unmet needs for patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

McKay says that one of the biggest unmet needs is the management of patients with nonclear cell RCC. This population is comprised of a heterogeneous group of patients with multiple histologies, and is historically excluded from clinical trials. Targeting this rare patient population to improve outcomes is going to be an important step forward, says McKay. There are several trials that are investigating various combinations of immunotherapy, but more work is needed to help improve the management of patients with nonclear cell RCC.

Additionally, due to the unmet need of patients with bone metastases, there is a trial investigating a VEGF inhibitor and radium-223 (Xofigo) in patients with RCC and bone metastases. Data from a phase I pilot study of the combination of radium-223 with a VEGF-targeted therapy were recently released.