Dr. Figlin on Ongoing ADAPT Trial for mRCC

Robert Figlin, MD, FACP, professor of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology Oncology, director, Division of Hematology Oncology, deputy director, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai, discusses the ongoing phase III ADAPT trial, which examines AGS-003 combined with sunitinib for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Patients enrolled in the study present with clear cell mRCC, Figlin explains, and are treated with surgical resection before their tissues are harvested. Patients are then randomized to receive sunitinib combined with AGS-003, an autologous immunotherapy designed to induce a T-cell response specific to tumor antigens, or sunitinib alone, which is the standard of care. The study is expected to complete randomization over the next several months, he says.

This is the largest study that has been conducted within this population and has enrolled more than 1000 patients, Figlin says. It is also unique in that it examines AGS-003, a personalized immunotherapy, which extracts a tumor’s RNA, places it onto the dendritic cells, and stimulates the immune system, in combination with sunitinib, which is said to reverse immune suppression and control disease.