Dr. Amin on Evaluating Response to Immunotherapy in RCC

Asim Amin, MD, PhD, director of immunotherapy, Levine Cancer Institute, discusses methods of evaluating response to immunotherapy in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Traditionally, physicians have used RECIST criteria to evaluate response to therapy in RCC, explains Amin. Originally, RECIST criteria were based on response to chemotherapy, but have since developed to evaluate response to immunotherapy. Now that physicians are seeing combinations of VEGF TKIs and other targeted therapies with immunotherapy, Amin believes that criteria will have to be adapted to fit the changing landscape.

Discontinuation criteria, for example, do not take into account lingering responses following discontinuation. When investigators evaluate toxicity, they have to discern how many patients discontinued treatment as a result. However, as physicians know from using immunotherapy in melanoma and early-stage RCC, responses can continue even after a patient has discontinued treatment. However, if a targeted therapy is stopped on account of toxicity, the responses generally follow-suit, notes Amin.