This paper reports patient-reported outcomes from the phase 2 IMmotion150 study to assess the safety and efficacy of atezolizumab alone or in combination with bevacizumab versus sunitinib in 305 untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients.

For all patients in the study, objective response rates were 25%, 32%, and 29% for atezolizumab alone, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, and sunitinib, respectively. For patients who were positive for the PD-L1 biomarker, objective response rates were 28%, 46%, and 27%, respectively.

Patients reported that both atezolizumab alone and the atezolizumab/bevacizumab combination were associated with a more favourable quality-of-life than sunitinib. The difference was more significant between those patients who received atezolizumab monotherapy and those who received sunitinib. This highlights the possibility of checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy being considered as a first-line treatment for metastatic RCC as a result of improved quality of life compared with sunitinib.

In conclusion, patient-reported outcomes highlight the more favourable tolerability of single immunotherapies compared with targeted therapies. This study also highlights the importance of using patient-reported outcomes as endpoints in large clinical trials. In addition, checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy is interesting for the adjuvant treatment of locally advanced RCC, where maintenance of quality of life is essential.

Read more in Practice Update here