Researchers in China recently published results from a clinical trial that reported a significant breakthrough in the treatment of fumarate hydratase-deficient renal cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of kidney cancer. This is the first prospective clinical trial focused on this type of cancer.
In response to this publication, Daniel George, MD, co-chair of the Duke Cancer Institute Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers, and Michael Harrison, MD, medical oncologist with center, published a commentary on the findings in JAMA Oncology.
The trial results reported that patients who received the combination therapy of sintilimab, a PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, and axitinib, a VEGFR-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, tolerated the treatment well and experienced mostly low-grade side effects.
“For this recently recognized, underdiagnosed distinct pathologic entity, these results set promising new expectations for treatment and outcomes,” George and Harrison wrote in their commentary. “This combination therapy warrants further validation in a randomized clinical trial.”
The DCI uro-oncologists also recognized how this work serves as an example of what is possible when clinical researchers collaborate and learn from one another.
“More than ever, our scientific and medical communities must remain connected for the sake of patients with cancer everywhere,” they wrote. “In the meantime, studies conducted outside of the US and Europe may not be a traditional pathway toward US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency approval, but results such as these, in rare patient populations that are hard to efficiently identify, will be hard to ignore.”
Research from the DCI Center for Prostate and Urologic Cancers focuses on prevention and screening, early diagnosis, and the development of new treatments for prostate and urologic cancers, including kidney cancer. Learn more about the center.
