MEDI0680 and durvalumab are both immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors. They act on slightly different parts of the immune cells (the PD-1 and PD-L1 receptors, respectively). The theory was that using these two medicines may improve survival compared to an immunotherapy that acts only on the PD-1 receptor. The aim of this phase 2 study was to compare MEDI0680 plus durvalumab with  nivolumab in kidney cancer patients who had not been treated with immunotherapy before, but who had been treated with a targeted therapy.

Sixty-three patients were randomised in the study; 42 were treated with the combination and 21 with nivolumab. The cancer got smaller in 16.7% of patient treated with the combination and 23.8% with nivolumab. The average time for the treatment to stop working and the cancer to start growing again (progression-free survival) was 3.6 months for both groups of patients. Average overall survival time was not reached for both treatment groups.

Nearly a quarter of the patients in the combination group stopped treatment because of side effects, and 14.3% of patients stopped taking nivolumab.

MEDI0680 combined with durvalumab was safe and tolerable; however, it did not improve survival compare to nivolumab alone.

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