Dr. Zhang Discusses Neoadjuvant Therapy in Kidney Cancer

Tian Zhang, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Duke Cancer Institute, discusses neoadjuvant therapy in kidney cancer.

The phase III KEYNOTE-564 trial is evaluating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in the adjuvant setting (NCT03142334). This study is assessing disease-free survival in high-risk patients with kidney cancer post-nephrectomy and is currently enrolling.

Sunitinib (Sutent) was approved by the FDA in November 2017 for the adjuvant treatment of patients with kidney cancer who have received nephrectomy and are at a high risk of recurrence. The agent was shown to delay disease recurrence, but it does not improve overall survival, Zhang explains.

There has been debate about whether the approval of sunitinib will lead to delays in accrual for these adjuvant trials. Zhang hopes that enrollment for KEYNOTE-564 will not be delayed by this approval of sunitinib, but considering the controversy around the benefit and toxicities, it may not affect the trial.