ESMO 2023: Adjuvant Everolimus in Patients with Completely Resected Very High-Risk RCC and Clear Cell Histology: Results from the Phase III SWOG S0931 (EVEREST) Trial

(UroToday.com) The 2023 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Congress held in Madrid, Spain between October 20th and 24th, 2023 was host to a renal cancer abstracts poster session. Dr. Primo Lara presented the results of a subgroup analysis of the phase III SWOG S0931 (EVEREST) trial evaluating adjuvant everolimus in patients with completely resected very high-risk renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with clear cell histology.

EVEREST is a randomized, double-blind, phase 3 trial that randomized patients (1:1) with histologically confirmed RCC (both clear cell and non-clear cell) who had undergone a full surgical resection and were at intermediate-high or very high risk of recurrence to either oral everolimus (10 mg daily) or placebo for 54 weeks. At a median follow-up of 76 months, recurrence-free survival was marginally improved with everolimus (5-years: 67% versus 63%, p=0.051). No overall survival benefits were observed for everolimus in this trial.1 In this study, Dr. Lara and colleague reported the results of a subgroup analysis of the very-high risk cohort of patients with clear cell RCC in EVEREST.

This cohort included post-nephrectomy RCC patients with any clear cell component and very-high risk disease, defined as any of:

  • pT3a, Gr 3-4
  • pT3b-c, any grade
  • pT4, any grade
  • pN+

Baseline patient characteristics, treatment received, and adverse event data were collected. Time-to-event analyses were performed using Cox regression modeling stratified by performance status.

ESMO 2023 Primo Lara_EVEREST_0 

 

Of the 1,499 trial patients, 717 had both clear cell histology and very-high risk disease, 699 of whom were study eligible (everolimus: 348; placebo: 351).

 

ESMO 2023 Primo Lara_EVEREST_1 

 47% of patients in the everolimus arm completed all planned treatment, compared to 64% in the placebo arm.

ESMO 2023 Primo Lara_EVEREST_2 

In the intent-to-treat cohort, there was evidence of an RFS benefit with everolimus (HR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65 – 0.99; 5-year survival: 57% versus 50%, p=0.040). However, no significant overall survival benefit was observed (HR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.64 – 1.14, 5-year survival: 85% versus 81%, p=0.28). Grade 3 or worse adverse events occurred more frequently with everolimus (42% versus 8% for placebo).

ESMO 2023 Primo Lara_EVEREST_3 

 

ESMO 2023 Primo Lara_EVEREST_4 

Dr. Lara concluded that for patients with clear cell RCC at very high-risk for recurrence, adjuvant everolimus was associated with significantly improved recurrence-free survival, compared to placebo, in a subset of patients comparable to those in S-TRAC and KEYNOTE-546. These results can inform the design and development of future adjuvant trials in high-risk RCC.

 

Presented by: Primo Lara, MD, Professor, Hematology and Oncology, University of California, Davis, CA

Written by: Rashid K. Sayyid, MD, MSc – Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) Clinical Fellow at The University of Toronto, @rksayyid on Twitter during the 2023 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Meeting, Madrid, Spain, Fri, Oct 20 – Tues, Oct 24, 2023.

References:

1. Ryan CW, Tangen CM, Heath E, et al. Adjuvant everolimus after surgery for renal cell carcinoma (EVEREST): a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2023;402(10407):1043-1051.