Waldenström Macroglobulinemia

Blood Cancers

Brain Cancer

Metastatic Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer

Childhood Cancers

Anal Cancer

Colorectal Cancer

Esophageal Cancer

Gallbladder Cancer

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor

Liver Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer

Gastrointestinal Cancers

Bladder Cancer

Kidney Cancer

Prostate Cancer

Testicular Cancer

Genitourinary Cancers

Cervical Cancer

Ovarian Cancer

Uterine Cancer

Vulvar Cancer

Gynecologic Cancer

Head & Neck Cancer

Immunotherapy

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Leukemia

Mesothelioma

Lung Cancer

Follicular Lymphoma

Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL)

Lymphoma

Myeloma

Cancer of Unknown Primary

Carcinoid Cancer

Neuroendocrine Cancer

Rare Cancers

Sarcoma

Melanoma

Skin Cancer

Thyroid Cancer

News

Cancer Horizons

All News

Blogs

Caregiving

Diet and Exercise

Financial

Psychosocial

Recipes

Sexual Health

Side Effect

Survivorship

Videos

All Videos

CURE Connections

CURE Expert Connections®

CURE Speaking Out

CURE TV

Educated Patient Sound Bites

On Demand: Webinars

Conferences

Conference Coverage 

Conference Listing 

Events

CURE Adventures

CURE Awards

Educated Patient In Person Education

Educated Patient Virtual Education

Resources

Advocacy Groups

Art Gallery

Clinical Trial Corner

Partners

Podcasts

Publications

Share Your Story

Subscribe

The kidney cancer condition center is a comprehensive resource for cancer news & oncologist insights on kidney cancer. Read more about cancer at CURE.

Kidney Cancer | Oncology & Cancer News | Tumor | CURE

CURE provides access to the cancer news, latest oncology research & expert insights that serve as a guide to every stage of the cancer experience.

About

Advertise / Support

Contact

CancerNetwork.com

TargetedOnc.com

OncLive.com

OncNursingNews.com

Terms & Conditions

Privacy

Do Not Sell My Information

CURE - Oncology & Cancer News for Patients & Caregivers

Twitter

Facebook

Youtube

Instagram

Spotlight

Breast Cancer Webinar Series

Cancer Type

Bladder

Breast

Kidney

Lung

Ovarian

Prostate

Skin

About CURE

Press Releases

Write for CURE

1rem

Tumor

CURE’s kidney cancer page is an extensive resource of cancer information featuring the latest kidney cancer news, expert oncologist insights on the latest cancer treatments, oncology research, advocacy efforts, and medical data on kidney cancer.

It’s been a busy few weeks here at CURE® and in the oncology space as a whole, as the last two weekends had back-to-back meetings: the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s 

Here are some highlights from the conference, but as always, you can find all of our coverage at curetoday.com.

Imfinzi, Avastin, TACE May ‘Set a New Standard of Care’ in Liver Cancer

For patients with liver cancer whose disease is not eligible to be removed via surgery, adding Imfinzi and Avastin to transarterial chemoembolization — also known as TACE — tended to lengthen the time patients lived before their disease got worse, according to findings from the EMRALD-1 trial. These improvements in progression-free survival over TACE alone could lead to a new standard of care for this patient population, according to the lead study author, Dr. Riccardo Lencioni.

More specifically, patients who received Imfinzi and Avastin plus TACE lived for a median of 15 months before death or disease worsening, compared to 8.2 months for patients who received TACE alone. This correlates to a 23% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death, and benefits were seen across different patient subgroups.

Notably, the researchers on EMRALD-1 are still monitoring how the addition of the two drugs impacts overall survival. Once those data become more clear, it is possible that the drug manufacturers could submit this regimen to the FDA for approval, thereby officially shaking up the standard of care of TACE, which has remained the main treatment in this setting for about two decades.

Cancer in Bloodstream May Predict CRC Outcomes

Circulating tumor DNA — also known as ctDNA — was another hot topic at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. So ctDNA measures little fragments of cancer that are found in the bloodstream after cancer treatment.

Now, findings from the BESPOKE trial highlight the fact that ctDNA may offer insight into the recurrence risk in patients with stage 2/3 colorectal cancer who underwent surgery and then chemotherapy. The researchers used ctDNA to help determine minimal residual disease, or MRD, status. Essentially, patients with disease still detected in the blood stream were MRD positive, while those without detectable cancer were MRD negative. Findings showed that those with MRD negativity tended to live longer without experiencing relapse or death compared to patients with MRD positivity.

Survival Benefits with Keytruda and Padcev in Advanced Urothelial Cancer

Back in December, the Food and Drug Administration approved Padcev plus Keytruda for patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer. The approval was based on primary findings from the EV-302 trial. Now, updated findings from that trial are showing that the drug duo continues to outperform chemotherapy when it comes to progression-free survival — that’s the time patients live before their disease gets worse — as well as overall survival, which is the time patients live before death of any cause.

Notably, these survival benefits were seen across patient subgroups, such as those with visceral metastases and lymph node-only disease. According to the lead study author, Dr. Michiel S. Van Der Heijden, this could result in a new standard of care in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Many Patients Miss Out on Testing to Guide Prostate Cancer Treatment

On the prostate cancer front, a study found that many people with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer are not undergoing germline or somatic testing. Now this is really important because back in 2020, two PARP inhibitors were approved in this setting. These are targeted drugs approved for patients whose cancers have certain characteristics, which can be determined by these types of tests.

Rates of germline and somatic testing have increased since the FDA approvals, but according to the study — which looked at real-world evidence of patients being treated in community cancer and urology centers — about 40% of patients did not undergo standard-of-care testing.

Study author, Dr. Neal Shore, said that this indicates the need for improved education on the importance of germline and somatic testing.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to 

Here are some of the top stories from the recent Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium as well as the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. 

Highlights from the Gastrointestinal and Genitourinary Cancer Conferences 

The FDA is certainly staying busy as 2023 comes to a close, approving three treatments for patients with cancer last week alone.

Additionally, exciting study findings were released regarding a cancer vaccine for the treatment of melanoma.

FDA Approves Iwilfin for High-Risk Neuroblastoma in Adults and Children

The FDA approved has Iwilfin (eflornithine) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma who have shown at least a partial response to a previous multiagent modality therapy, which includes anti-GD2 immunotherapy.

Notably, the FDA reported that this drug is the first approval of a therapy used to reduce the risk of relapse in children with high-risk neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma, as the National Cancer Institute explained on its website, is a cancer of immature nerve cells that most typically occurs in children, and often begins in the adrenal glands.

The FDA said the major efficacy outcome measure behind the approval was event-free survival (EFS; time after treatment when cancer does not come back or worsen; disease progression), while other notable findings included overall survival (OS; length of time from diagnosis or start of treatment when a patient is still alive).

FDA Approves Welireg for Advanced Kidney Cancer Subtype

The FDA approved Welireg ((beluztifan) for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have been previously treated with a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor, and a vascular endothelial growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (VEGF-TKI).

The approval was based on findings from the LITESPARK-005 trial. Trial findings presented earlier this year at the European Society of Medical Oncology Annual Congress (ESMO) showed that at a median follow-up of 18.4 months, patients treated with Welireg experienced objective response rates (patients whose disease responded partially or completely to treatment) of 21.9%, compared with 3.5% among patients treated with Afinitor (everolimus), and 12-month progression-free survival (PFS; the time a patient lives without their disease spreading or worsening) rates were 33.7% on Welireg versus 17.6% with Afinitor, and 18-month PFS rates were 22.5% and 9%, respectively.

FDA Approves Padcev-Keytruda Combo in Advanced Bladder Cancer

The FDA has additionally approved Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) plus Ketruda (pembrolizumab) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer. Alongside this, the FDA previously 

unable to be treated with cisplatin-containing chemotherapy

In the recent EV-302/KN-A39 trial, both OS and PFS showed significant improvements among the Padcev plus Keytruda group of patients, as the median overall survival for these patients was 31.5 months, while a cohort treated with chemotherapy experienced a median OS of 16.1 months.

Regarding progression-free survival, the median was 12.5 months for the Padcev-Keytruda combination group and 6.3 months in the chemotherapy group.

Cancer Vaccine Plus Keytruda Reduces Risk of Recurrence or Death in Melanoma

Patients with advanced-stage melanoma continue to experience reduced risk of recurrence or death following treatment with a combination of mRNA vaccine mRNA-4157 (V940), an investigational individualized neoantigen therapy (INT), and Keytruda, according to recent study findings.

The mRNA-4157 (V940) and Keytruda combination reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 49% and the risk of distant metastasis or death by 62% when compared with treatment with Keytruda alone in patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma with high risk of recurrence following complete resection, as determined by 

 study, according to a news release from drug manufacturers Moderna and Merck.

The latest findings, from a median planned follow-up of approximately three years, build on previously announced primarily analysis data from a median planned follow-up of approximately two years which showed that the combination reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 44% and the risk of distance metastasis or death by 65% when compared with Keytruda alone.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation

 to the combination for the post-surgical treatment of patients with high-risk melanoma earlier this year.

Moderna and Merck have also announced the phase 3 INTerpath-001 (V940-001) clinical trial to evaluate the combination as an adjuvant treatment for patients with resected, high-risk stage 3B to 4 melanoma, which is currently enrolling participants, as well as a phase 3 trial for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with the combination regimen.

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved treatment for some patients with neuroblastoma, kidney cancer and bladder cancer. Elsewhere, a cancer vaccine made headlines for the treatment of patients with melanoma.

FDA Approves 3 Treatments, Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise

After being diagnosed with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease, a rare tumor disorder, Sean Korbitz spent most of his 20s and 30s hoping to make it to his 60. However, after starting a new medication, he is feeling more optimistic about having a “normal life span.”

For six months in 2007, Korbitz threw up every morning and his doctors had no idea why. Suspecting a pinched nerve in his neck, Korbitz’s doctors ordered the Colorado native MRIs for his head and neck.

Within a couple of hours, he was undergoing emergency surgery. The MRI revealed that Korbitz had a brain tumor that had been growing for six months.

In today’s episode of the “Cancer Horizons” podcast, Korbitz explains what it was like to receive a diagnosis of a rare genetic disease     

as a young adult, how his life has changed since going on Welireg, his work with the VHL Alliance, his advice for patients with VHL disease and more.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to

VHL Alliance

When Sean Korbitz was a 20-year-old college student, his life trajectory changed with a rare cancer diagnosis, resulting in the removal of 40 tumors; fifteen years later, a new drug made him feel like a “medical miracle.”  

Welireg Made a von Hippel-Lindau Survivor Feel Like a 'Medical Miracle'

After being diagnosed with kidney cancer — which was a possible result of 

 in New York City – Steven Edwards realized that he had to be his own advocate. Pivotal to his advocacy was asking questions and getting as many professional opinions as possible.

“I probably would consider whether it was the right doctor for me in the first place if a doctor was upset about getting a second opinion, because it’s all about gathering education and becoming educated yourself,” Edwards said in an interview with CURE®.

Edwards went through multiple different treatments, including the participation on a clinical trial, and continues to push for better outcomes for himself and other survivors through being an advocate for the Kidney Cancer Association and KidneyCAN.

Through cancer setbacks like a diagnosis of metastatic disease in 2017, classifying Edwards’ disease as stage 4, he continues to seek information in this rapidly changing field. After all, “There’s only way to go, and that’s forward,” Edwards said.

If an oncologist was apprehensive about Steven Edwards getting a second opinion, that might not be the right doctor for him, the kidney cancer survivor said. 

On Kidney Cancer Advocacy: ‘There’s Only One Way to Go, and That’s Forward’

After a routine physical led to his kidney cancer diagnosis, one patient advocate and survivor has cherished every day he’s had with his family and uses this as motivation to help raise awareness during 

“Renal cell carcinoma is like a phantom in your body,” said Ed, who was treated as part of a clinical trial at Fox Chase Cancer Center after he had exhausted all other surgical options.

Now in remission, Ed has one piece of advice for others facing this diagnosis: Keep on keeping on.

In this week’s episode, we spoke with a patient advocate and survivor of renal cell carcinoma to help raise awareness during Kidney Cancer Awareness month.

How One Survivor 'Keeps On Keeping On'

This is the poem I wrote to help myself cope with my new diagnosis.  It served as a reminder that I was resilient.

Hope After an Unexpected Cancer Diagnosis

For decades, researchers have been seeking a therapy to improve outcomes for patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma who underwent a nephrectomy.

Postsurgical Keytruda Improves Survival in Clear Cell Kidney Cancer

Anxiety over scans makes sense, but isn’t there more anxiety about other cancer tests, too?

Anxiety About Scans and Other Cancer Tests

Across disease stages, Black patients with renal cell carcinoma experience worse survival outcomes than White patients, research has shown.

Race Associated With Kidney Cancer Survival Disparities 

Patients with inoperable kidney cancer saw significant results in local control and cancer-specific survival with stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy A Noninvasive Option for Patients With Kidney Cancer

Subcutaneous Opdivo led to similar outcomes to intravenous administration of the drug and may be easier to access down the road, an expert said. 

Injectable Opdivo May Mitigate Disparities in Kidney Cancer

For patients with advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma, subcutaneous Opdivo (nivolumab) was found to be no less effective or safe than intravenous administration of the drug, according to findings from the CheckMate-67T trial presented at the 2024 

Immunotherapy ‘Boosts’ May Improve Outcomes for Advanced Kidney Cancer

Subcutaneous (under the skin) injections of the immunotherapy agent could help patients get their therapy sooner, while also decreasing access-to-care disparities, according to Dr. Saby George, director of Network Clinical Trials and a professor of Oncology and Medicine at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well as an associate professor at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo.

The implications (of subcutaneous Opdivo) include cutting down the treatment times (and) reducing the need for infusion chairs, we will completely eliminate that if (the) patient transitions from intravenous drug to subcutaneous drug.

Intravenous is given in infusion centers, while (subcutaneous) can be given in clinics. You don't need any big setup or any IV access or port or anything for subcutaneously administered drugs. That's making it attractive for patients. This also touches upon the access issue, especially (for) patients in remote areas, (who) find it difficult to come to infusion centers, (find a) ride etc. They may not have the ride, or sometimes it's difficult to get to big centers. So if this is made widely available, this may improve access and thus touch upon disparities in health care access. So somehow or other if we are creative, we can improve the access issue and reduce disparities, thus enabling a lot of patients to receive treatment.

Another advantage is that decompressing the infusion centers will allow for reduced wait times to get a chair. In a large center like ours, there are a few days of lag between ordering and getting a treatment. That's something to do with the volume at the center. So if we decompress the infusion centers, we will open up more chairs. So that's, that's another big advantage for patients and, and their treatment burden is reduced because it's five minutes as opposed to 30 to 60 minutes.

Conference

video

Biomarker-driven therapies work in kidney cancer, and can lead the way for improving outcomes for aggressive disease subtypes, explained Dr. Yasser Ged, co-director of the Kidney Cancer Research Program and assistant professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.

, Ged discussed findings from the phase 2 ORCHID trial, which evaluated Lynparza (Olaparib) in patients with metastatic kidney cancer that had a BRCA-associated protein 1 (BAP1) or other DNA mutations — a group of patients that typically have aggressive disease, according to Ged.

Therapies that target specific characteristics on kidney cancer cells are showing promise in the space, an expert explained. 

Kidney Cancer

Latest News