Kidney Cancer

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network updated its Clinical Practice Guidelines to add two new options for the frontline treatment of patients with kidney cancer.

Immunotherapy pioneers James P. Allison and Dr. Tasuku Honjo have won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their research that eventually led to the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors to treat cancer.

PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors are generally well-tolerated, so most patients face little or no issues with the drugs. However, there are still some things to look out for.

Immunotherapy is making landmark change in the treatment of patients with genitourinary (GU) cancers, with bladder cancer being the pioneer in the field, having five FDA-approved checkpoint inhibitors. But kidney cancer is not far behind, with a breakthrough therapy designation granted for a Keytruda (pembrolizumab) combination this past January.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the immunotherapy combination of Yervoy (ipilimumab) plus Opdivo (nivolumab) to treat patients with intermediate- or poor-risk advanced renal cell carcinoma in the frontline setting.

After a recent FDA approval for an additional dosing schedule option for Opdivo, patients must be educated on the potential side effects that may occur between prolonged visits.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental biologics license application adding a four-week dosing schedule for Opdivo (nivolumab) across several of the PD-1 inhibitor’s indications.

A new combination – Keytruda (pembrolizumab) plus Lenvima (lenvatinib) – was granted a breakthrough therapy designation to treat patients with advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Cabometyx (cabozantinib) was granted approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for previously untreated patients who have advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Frontline Opdivo (nivolumab) plus Yervoy (ipilimumab) was granted a priority review to a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) to be used to treat patients with intermediate- and poor-risk patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

The FDA approved Sutent to be used in patients who had a nephrectomy and are at high risk of their kidney cancer returning.

Sumanta Kumar Pal, M.D., associate professor, Department of Medical Oncology, City of Hope, covered the scope of exciting genitourinary cancer data presented at the 2017 ESMO Congress, with a sharp focus on the CABOSUN and CheckMate-214 trials.

The latest drugs for advanced kidney cancer are stirring optimism.