Pembrolizumab plus axitinib improved efficacy over sunitinib in treatment-naive advanced renal cell carcinoma in the KEYNOTE-426 (NCT02853331) study. However, a relatively high incidence of grade 3/4 aminotransferase elevations was observed.
To further characterize treatment-emergent aminotransferase elevations in patients treated with pembrolizumab-axitinib.
Patients enrolled in KEYNOTE-426 were included in this study.
Three Standardized MedDRA Queries for potential hepatic disorders were used to identify patients for the hepatic event analysis subpopulation (HEAS). Alanine aminotransferase events were characterized for time to onset, time to recovery, corticosteroid use, and rechallenge with study treatment(s).
The HEAS comprised 189/429 (44%) pembrolizumab-axitinib patients and 128/425 (30%) sunitinib patients. Grade 3/4 hepatic adverse events were more common in the combination arm: 22% (94/429) versus 7% (29/425); 3% (13/429) discontinued the combination due to hepatic adverse events. In the pembrolizumab-axitinib arm, 125/426 patients (29%) had alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≥3× upper limit of normal (ULN), with median time to onset of 84 d (range, 7-840 d). Among patients with ALT ≥3× ULN, 120/125 (96%) recovered to <3× ULN following study treatment interruption/discontinuation, with a median time to recovery of 15 d (3-176 d): 68/120 (57%) received corticosteroids. One hundred patients were rechallenged with one or both study treatment(s): 45/100 (45%) had ALT ≥3× ULN recurrence, and all 45 recovered to ALT <3× ULN following study treatment interruption/discontinuation. No fatal hepatic events occurred.
A higher incidence of grade 3/4 aminotransferase elevations occurs with pembrolizumab-axitinib. These events should be carefully evaluated and managed with prompt study treatment interruption or discontinuation, with or without corticosteroid treatment. The decision to rechallenge with one or both drugs should be based on severity of event and thorough causality assessment.
Renal cell carcinoma patients receiving pembrolizumab-axitinib are at a higher risk of liver enzyme elevations, which could be reversed with appropriate management.
European urology oncology. 2021 Jul 06 [Epub ahead of print]
Brian I Rini, Michael B Atkins, Elizabeth R Plimack, Denis Soulières, Raymond S McDermott, Jens Bedke, Sophie Tartas, Boris Alekseev, Bohuslav Melichar, Yaroslav Shparyk, Chihiro Kondoh, Przemyslaw Langiewicz, Lori A Wood, Hans Hammers, Cynthia G Silber, Barbara Haber, Erin Jensen, Mei Chen, Thomas Powles
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA. Electronic address: ., Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC, USA., Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA., Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada., Adelaide and Meath Hospital and University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland., Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany., Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud, Pierre-Bénite, France., Federal Medical Research Center n.a. P.A. Hertsen, Moscow, Russia., Lekarska fakulta Univerzity Palackeho a Fakultni nemocnice Olomouc, Czech Republic., Lviv State Oncology Regional Treatment and Diagnostic Center, Lviv, Ukraine., Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, Japan., Wojskowy Instytut Medyczny Centralny Szpital Medyczny MON, Warsaw, Poland., Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center, Halifax, NS, Canada., University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA., Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA., Barts Health and the Royal Free NHS Trusts, Barts Cancer Institute, and Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.