Impact of brain metastases on systemic renal cell carcinoma treatment outcomes: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Introduction: Brain metastases (BrM) are a negative prognostic factor in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) populations. Patients with RCC and BrM (RCC BrM + ) may receive systemic therapy and/or brain-targeted (local) treatment. We performed a systematic literature review to identify clinical trials and non-interventional studies reporting data on BrM impact on systemic treatment outcomes in patients with RCC.

Methods: We systematically searched the MEDLINE and Embase databases in January 2024 for publications reporting efficacy/effectiveness and/or safety/tolerability outcomes by BrM status from phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials and non-interventional studies of systemic RCC therapies. Data were extracted from publications meeting predefined criteria (PROSPERO registration, CRD42023494896) and reported in accordance with PRISMA guidelines.

Results: Sixty-two publications (of 651 screened) were eligible (4 from prospective trials) and included 4,637 patients with RCC BrM + treated with systemic therapy. The most evaluated systemic therapies were sunitinib, nivolumab, ipilimumab + nivolumab, cabozantinib and sorafenib. Tolerability was generally consistent with known safety profiles in RCC trial populations. In the clinical trials, systemic treatment benefits for patients with RCC BrM + were equivocal. In non-interventional studies, survival was generally poorer in patients with RCC BrM + than reference groups (overall/BrM-). Survival and intracranial control benefits in patients with RCC BrM + were reported for some multimodal (systemic plus local) treatment strategies. There were no robust comparative data to guide systemic treatment selection.

Conclusion: We identified a need for robust data on intracranial and extracranial responses to systemic therapy in patients with RCC BrM+, taking into account prior local therapy exposure.

Keywords: Brain metastases; Effect; Prognosis; Renal cell carcinoma; Stereotactic radiosurgery; Systemic therapy; Tolerability.