International Kidney Cancer Symposium

Additional research exploring the association between clonal hematopoiesis and cardiovascular health could help improve outcomes for patients with kidney cancer and identify those at higher risk for experiencing cardiac events.

Further understanding of the cancer immunity cycle could drive the development of novel immune therapies for patients with renal cell carcinoma.

Decisions regarding the intensification or de-escalation of treatment, particularly with immunotherapy and TKIs, for patients with renal cell carcinoma could be aided by circulating tumor DNA.

Brian H. Ramnaraign, MD, discusses findings from a single-institution review of the incidence of immunotherapy-related toxicities in older patients with kidney cancer.

Alan Tan, MD, discusses the ongoing investigation and potential utility of circulating tumor DNA in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

Administration of the hypoxia-inducible factor–2α inhibitor belzutifan (Welireg) at the recommended phase 2 dose of 120 mg daily produced comparable toxicities and efficacy outcomes to that of a daily 200-mg dose of the agent in patients with advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Yousef Zakharia, MD, discusses the real-world treatment outcomes of first-line axitinib plus pembrolizumab in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma based on International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium risk score.

Treatment with zanzalintinib monotherapy produced antitumor activity and was well tolerated in patients with previously treated advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Jaleh Fallah, MD, discusses the FDA's evaluation of data from the phase 2 LITESPARK-004 trial, which supported the approval of belzutifan in von Hippel-Lindau–associated cancers.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have been associated with improved outcomes for patients with metastatic translocation renal cell carcinoma; however, novel therapies and therapeutic targets are needed for patients within this histologic subset.

Kiran Virdee, RN, BSN, CCRN-K, outlines the best practices for the management of adverse effects during the treatment of kidney cancer.

Rana M. McKay, MD, and Yousef Zakharia, MD, debate the pros and cons of doublet vs triplet combination therapies in the frontline setting for patients with renal cell carcinoma.

Tivozanib continued to display a progression­-free survival benefit and rates vs sorafenib in patients with relapsed/refractory renal cell carcinoma who received 2 or 3 prior systemic regimens.

Rana R. McKay, MD, discusses the rationale for combining tivozanib with nivolumab in heavily pretreated patients with renal cell carcinoma.

The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab led to significant improvements in survival vs sunitinib in patients with intermediate- and poor-risk renal cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid features.

Lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab reduced the need for second-line therapy by 42.8% compared with sunitinib in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Bradley McGregor, MD, discusses the rationale behind combining belzutifan with lenvatinib in pretreated patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma with clear cell components.

Eric Jonasch, MD, discusses the exploration of cabozantinib in the neoadjuvant setting in renal cell carcinoma.

Andrew W. Hahn, MD, discusses the investigation of lenvatinib plus everolimus vs cabozantinib in metastatic renal cell carcinoma following progression on an immune checkpoint inhibitor.

Patients with treatment-naïve advanced renal cell carcinoma who received nivolumab plus cabozantinib achieved deeper objective responses leading to improved progression-free survival and overall survival rates vs those who received sunitinib, according to exploratory data from the CheckMate 9ER trial.

The combination of lenvatinib plus everolimus is under evaluation vs cabozantinib in the phase 2 LenCabo trial for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who have progressed on prior treatment with a PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor.

Bradley McGregor, MD, discusses the factors that affect frontline treatment decisions for patients with advanced RCC, the importance of longer-term follow-up of phase 3 trials in kidney cancer, and the benefits of dual immunotherapy and immunotherapy/TKI treatment combinations.

Eric Jonasch, MD, discusses key clinical trials that are paving the way for improved treatment sequencing in renal cell carcinoma and the prospective benefits of neoadjuvant cabozantinib in nonmetastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to delays in elective and potentially curative surgeries for patients with cT1b-cT2b renal cell carcinoma but research has indicated that surgical delays of up to and beyond 3 months did not result in an increased risk of pT3a upstaging or comprise overall survival.

A modified dosing schedule of frontline nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) compared with the standard dose showed no differences in responses or safety in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, according to results of the CheckMate-920 trial.

Recent research for effective therapies designed to target von Hippel-Lindau disease–associated renal cell carcinoma is pointing to a future with the paradigm that comprises immunotherapy, HIF-2α inhibitors, and potentially CDK4/6 inhibitors.

Combination regimens comprised of immunotherapy and TKI inhibitors have yielded significant benefits in terms of overall survival and progression-free survival with acceptable safety in patients with renal cell carcinoma; however, the cost of these regimens may negate the impact of these advances.

Bradley McGregor, MD, discusses the potential utility of the combination of cabozantinib and nivolumab in advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).