The final survival information from the phase 3 CLEAR study with lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab for people with untreated advanced kidney cancer has been published. Another 2 years of follow up results is reported from the comparison of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab with sunitinib in the CLEAR study.

In the study, lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab improved the time to when the treatment stopped working and the cancer started growing again. This was an average of 2 years with lenvatinib plus pembrolizuamab and just over 9 months for sunitinib. The average overall survival times were similar for both treatments at around 4 and a half years. However, nearly 7 in 10 patients survived for at least 3 years on lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab, compared to 6 in 10 patients on sunitinib.

Nearly all patients (more than 90%) reported a side effect that was related to one of the treatments.

This study showed that the combination of lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab in previously untreated advanced kidney cancer patients resulted in a consistent and long lasting survival benefit with side effects that can be treated and managed.

Read more in Journal of Clinical Oncology here