A phase 1 study has evaluated the safety and efficacy of nivolumab in combination with sunitinib and pazopanib in people with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Although there were good responses to the nivolumab plus sunitinib  and nivolumab plus pazopanib combinations and progression-free survival (PFS) was encouraging (12.7 and 7.2 months respectively), the side effect profile for both combinations was unacceptable and resulted in the discontinuation of any further development.

In conclusion, these findings suggest careful selection of the type of anti-angiogenic drug used in combination with an immune checkpoint inhibitor.

Read more in Practice Update here