Clinical Trials Corner: A Promising New Drug Class in Treating Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Rationale: Despite multiple studies evaluating adjuvant therapy in patients with localized RCC after nephrectomy, largely involving vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), there remains no standard adjuvant systemic therapy that increases overall survival. While a number of adjuvant trials are underway to determine if there is a role for immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in treatment of localized RCC, it is hypothesized that neoadjuvant PD-1 priming may be necessary to maximize effi cacy. Thus, the PROSPER RCC trial is a novel trial involving perioperative nivolumab in patients with RCC undergoing nephrectomy.