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Axitinib Yields Better Tumor Response Rate Over Nivolumab in mRCC
Axitinib showed a better tumor response rate than nivolumab, according to a study comparing the 2 as second-line treatment following targeted therapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC; J Clin Oncol. 2020;25[9]:1678-1686).
“Sequential treatment starting with target therapy is still the standard care for [mRCC], even in the era of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Our objective was to compare the clinical outcomes between axitinib and nivolumab as second-line therapy following prior targeted therapy in mRCC patients,” explained Kotaro Suzuki, Division of Urology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan, and colleagues.
With this in mind, Dr Suzuki and team identified and compared 41 patients treated with axitinib as a second-line regimen after targeted therapy and 39 who were treated with nivolumab.
Although there was no difference in overall survival (OS) between the 2 groups (both not reached; P = .581), patients who received axitinib had a progression-free survival (PFS) of 10.3 months, compared to 7.3 months in those who received nivolumab (P = .067). The clinical benefit rate of axitinib also exceeded nivolumab (82.9% vs 56.4%; P = .067).
Adverse events (AEs) of grade 3 or higher were similar between the 2 drugs; however, 1 patient in the nivolumab group died due to an immune-related AE.
“Although the prognosis did not differ markedly between the two groups, axitinib resulted in a better tumor response rate. Further randomized prospective studies are needed for the ideal order of this sequential treatment,” concluded Dr Suzuki et al.—Alexandra Graziano
