In this interview with Practice Update, Dr Eric Jonasch from MD Anderson Cancer Center in the USA talks about the the novel hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-2 alpha inhibitor for the treatment of previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Dr Jonasch described how HIF-2 alpha works and then went on to talk about the results of the first clinical trial with this treatment. Fifty-five (55) patients were enrolled in phase 1b/2, single-arm study. All patients had prior treatment for advanced RCC and their cancer had progressed. The primary endpoints were objective response rate and progression-free survival. The patients in the study were heavily pretreated; they had a median of three prior therapies, so this was a population that needed something to help shrink their disease. They showed an objective response rate of 24% and a progression-free survival of 11 months, which is remarkable for a third-line treatment.

A phase III study comparing the HIF-2 alpha inhibitor to everolimus in pretreated patients with advanced RCC is in planning. HIF-2 alpha inhibitor could also be used to complement immunotherapy.

Watch the video interview on Practice Update here