The results from the following study were presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) genitourinary (GU) conference in San Francisco in February 2019.

Professor Thomas Powles from the Barts Cancer Institute in London presented the results from KEYNOTE-426, a global, open-label, phase 3 study to assess the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab plus axitinib versus sunitinib as first-line therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

In this study, the pembrolizumab plus axitinib combination provided superior overall survival, progression-free survival (15 months versus 11 months) and objective response rate compared with sunitinib and had manageable safety in patients with previously untreated, advanced or metastatic clear-cell RCC.

The authors are suggesting that the combination of pembrolizumab plus axitinib should be considered a new standard of care for untreated mRCC.

Read more on ASCO University here

Read more on Cancer Therapy Advisor here

Read more in Renal & Urology News here