Efficacy and safety of nivolumab plus cabozantinib in octogenarian patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Purpose: To clarify the efficacy and safety profile of nivolumab plus cabozantinib combination therapy in advanced renal cell carcinoma patients older than 80 years.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 42 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab plus cabozantinib as the first-line therapy at our institution. The patients were categorized according to age as those aged ≥ 80 years and those aged < 80 years. Efficacy was analysed by comparing the progression-free survival, overall survival, objective response rate, and disease control rate between the two groups. Safety was assessed by comparing the incidence of adverse events.

Results: Ten patients (31%) were classified as age ≥ 80 group. No significant differences were observed in the progression-free survival (p = 0.682), the overall survival (p = 0.627), objective response rate (p = 0.195), and disease control rate (p = 0.070) between the two groups. There was no significant difference in the incidence of all grades of adverse events(p = 1.000), but there was a trend toward a higher incidence of grade 3 or higher adverse events in the group of patients aged < 80 years (p = 0.066).

Conclusions: The efficacy and safety of nivolumab plus cabozantinib combination therapy were comparable between the patients aged ≥ 80 years and those aged < 80 years. Thus, chronological age alone is not a contraindication for nivolumab plus cabozantinib combination therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Keywords: Immunotherapy; Kidney cancer; Programmed cell death protein 1; Renal cancer; Tyrosine kinase inhibitor.