Treatment with nivolumab would help people with advanced kidney cancer survive longer. These are the updated results of the CheckMate-025 study versus reference treatment.
Renal adenocarcinoma is the most common adult kidney tumor worldwide. And according to the results of a comparative study presented on the occasion of 16th International Kidney Cancer Congress in Miami, Florida, treatment with nivolumab increases the chances of survival of patients compared to the standard treatment.
An anti-PD1 antibody
Nivolumab is an antibody that binds to the PD1 receptor in cancer cells to prevent their growth. Nivolumab is considered an immunotherapy and allows treatment without chemotherapy. Compared to the standard treatment for this advanced form of kidney cancer, everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, nivolumab is believed to reduce the risk of death by 26%.
This comparative study between nivolumab and everolimus was carried out on patients who had previously received treatment with antiangiogenic agents. These are drugs that prevent the growth of new blood vessels that are necessary for tumor cells to grow.
The bar of three years of survival reached
The median duration of overall survival is 25.8 months for nivolumab, compared to 19.7 months for everolimus. This is six months longer, but it is also the first anti-PD1 that demonstrates sustainable survival at 3 years in advanced forms of kidney cancer already treated with anti-angiogenic agents. The response rate to nivolumab is 26% compared to 5% for everolimus and no unexpected side effects were reported during this extended follow-up. The rate of grade 3 and 4 side effects remained stable over time at 21% versus 37% in the everolimus group.
Encouraging results, which could make nivolumab a standard treatment in advanced kidney cancer.
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