Time to Resolution of Axitinib-Related Adverse Events After Treatment Interruption in Patients With Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Introduction: Combined axitinib and immuno-oncology (IO) therapy is approved for first-line advanced renal cell carcinoma. Overlapping toxicities represent a clinical challenge. Calculating the time to resolution (TTR) of common axitinib-related adverse events (AEs) after treatment interruption may help to identify AE etiology and determine appropriate management strategies.

Materials and methods: Data from 5 randomized or single-arm axitinib monotherapy or combination studies were analyzed. Patients with histologically confirmed clear cell advanced renal cell carcinoma were pooled into 3 cohorts based on treatment received: axitinib monotherapy, axitinib + IO, and other tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). Any grade and grade ≥3 treatment-emergent diarrhea, fatigue, hypertension, nausea, and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome were assessed. TTR was defined as the time from treatment interruption/discontinuation to resolution.

Results: The axitinib monotherapy cohort comprised 532 patients, the axitinib + IO cohort 541 patients, and the other TKI cohort 882 patients. Median TTR for all AEs (any grade) in the axitinib monotherapy cohort ranged from 1 to 3 days, except for fatigue (8 days). For diarrhea, hypertension, nausea, and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome, median TTRs were longer in the axitinib + IO (4-11 days) and other TKI (7-8 days) cohorts versus the monotherapy cohort. Results were similar when only AEs of grade ≥3 were considered.

Conclusions: The TTR of monotherapeutic axitinib-related AEs is ≤3 days, except for fatigue, and generally shorter than for other single-agent TKIs and axitinib + IO. This has important implications for identifying AE etiology with combined axitinib-IO therapy and implementation of appropriate management strategies. ClinicalTrials.org identifiers: NCT00678392, NCT00920816, NCT02493751, NCT02684006, NCT02853331.

Keywords: Anti-PD-1/PD-L1; Avelumab; Immuno-oncology; Pembrolizumab; VEGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors.