Management of metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC) has undergone a paradigm shift with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in the first-line setting. However, direct comparative data are inadequate to inform treatment decisions. Therefore, we aimed to assess first-line therapy for mRCC and indirectly compare the efficacy and safety of currently available treatments.
Multiple databases were searched for articles published before June 2020. Studies that compared overall and/or progression-free survival (OS/PFS) and/or adverse events (AEs) in mRCC patients were considered eligible.
Six studies matched our eligibility criteria. For OS, pembrolizumab plus axitinib [hazard ratio (HR) 0.85, 95% credible interval (CrI) 0.73-0.98] and nivolumab plus ipilimumab (HR 0.86, 95% CrI 0.75-0.99) were significantly more effective than sunitinib, and pembrolizumab plus axitinib was probably the best option based on analysis of the treatment ranking. For PFS, pembrolizumab plus axitinib (HR 0.86, 95% CrI 0.76-0.97) and avelumab plus axitinib (HR 0.85, 95% CrI 0.74-0.98) were statistically superior to sunitinib, and avelumab plus axitinib was likely to be the preferred option based on analysis of the treatment ranking, closely followed by pembrolizumab plus axitinib. Nivolumab plus ipilimumab had significantly lower rates of serious AEs than sunitinib.
Pembrolizumab plus axitinib seemed to be the most efficacious first-line agents, while nivolumab plus ipilimumab had the most favorable efficacy-tolerability equilibrium. These findings may facilitate individualized treatment strategies and inform future direct comparative trials in an expanding treatment options without direct comparison between approved drugs.
Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII. 2020 Aug 05 [Epub ahead of print]
Keiichiro Mori, Hadi Mostafaei, Noriyoshi Miura, Pierre I Karakiewicz, Stefano Luzzago, Manuela Schmidinger, Andreas Bruchbacher, Benjamin Pradere, Shin Egawa, Shahrokh F Shariat
Department of Urology, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria., Cancer Prognostics and Health Outcomes Unit, University of Montreal Health Centre, Montreal, Canada., Clinical Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine I and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria., Department of Urology, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan., Department of Urology, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria. .