A recent study published in the Lancet Oncology has identified that the mutation status of three genes – BAP1, PBRM1, and TP53 – had independent prognostic value for patients with advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) about to start treatment with first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).

The mutation status of these three genes is useful for helping to determine risk groups for patients with the disease. When mutation status of the genes was added to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) risk model, patients about to start first-line treatment could be grouped more accurately as low-, intermediate-, or high-risk disease.

“Compared with the original MSKCC risk model, our genomically annotated tool altered risk grouping for about half of participants analysed from two independent cohorts, with dedicated analyses suggesting improved correlation with overall survival, progression-free survival, and the proportion of patients who achieved an objective response,” wrote Dr Martin H. Voss, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Currently, the MSKCC risk model integrates clinical and laboratory data to determine outcome for patients with metastatic RCC. In the current study, the researchers tested whether several gene mutations had the ability to predict outcome for metastatic RCC patients.

In the future, this work will need to be be extended to include the International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC) model, a commonly used tool for assessing outcome and risk for metastatic RCC patients, especially as the MSKCC stratification tool starts to be phased out of use.

Read more in Modern Medicine Network here