Dr. Figlin on Promise of Immunotherapy Plus TKI Combinations in RCC

Robert A. Figlin, MD, director, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Steven Spielberg Professor of Biomedical Sciences and Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, discusses the promise of immunotherapy plus TKI combinations in the treatment of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

The evolution of combination approaches with immunotherapy and targeted agents was the focus of the plenary session at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. During the meeting, the community heard about the combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and axitinib (Inlyta). The combination was FDA approved in April 2019 for the frontline treatment of patients with advanced RCC based on data from the phase III KEYNOTE-426 study. These promising data came on the heels of other notable combination approaches with immunotherapy, says Figlin. These combinations continue to show robust activity and improvements in survival, he adds.

Moreover, these drugs appear to be tolerable when used in combination, explains Figlin. Having used these combinations at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Figlin can attest to the safety profile of these agents. This is important because patients want to know their therapy is going to be tolerable and will help them achieve long-term disease control. A big unanswered question moving forward is how each combination approach compares with another as there are not yet any comparative trials, Figlin states.