Ongoing results from the phase 3 CheckMate-9ER clinical trial with nivolumab plus cabozantinib were presented a the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting over the weekend. The nivolumab/cabozantinib combination doubled the average time to when the treatment stopped working and the cancer started growing again (progression-free survival) compared to sunitinib and nearly twice as many renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients responded to the combination.

In this poster session, a deeper understanding of how baseline disease characteristics may affect the clinical outcomes of patients with RCC and may help with clinical decision-making was presented. Patients were followed for nearly 2 years. Time to when the treatment stopped working and the cancer started growing again, overall survival time and shrinkage of the cancer were assessed. Patients were grouped according to baseline risk status (favourable, intermediate, or poor), organ site of metastases, number of organs with any tumours, or size of the original tumour.

Nivolumab plus cabozantinib showed efficacy benefits compared with sunitinib regardless of risk status, organ site of metastases, or the size or number of tumours at baseline. These results support this combination as a new first-line treatment option for patients with advanced RCC.

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