Nivolumab Tested For Safety In Kidney Cancer

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Urology / Nephrology
Article Date: 05 Jun 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Nivolumab Tested For Safety In Kidney Cancer

Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center presented a poster on a phase I clinical trial of Nivolumab, a PD-1 receptor blocking antibody, being used in combination with other drugs in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma or kidney cancer is the seventh most common cancer, leading to approximately 116,000 deaths annually worldwide. In roughly one-quarter of those with mRCC, the cancer has already spread or metastasized at diagnosis.

Nivolumab is an immune checkpoint inhibitor being tested in many cancers such as advanced melanoma and nonsmall cell lung cancer. It helps the body fight renegade cancer cells by restoring normal T-cell antitumor function. T-cells are a type of white blood cell that act like soldiers by searching out and destroying invaders. Nivolumab accomplishes this by suppressing an immune checkpoint modulator.

In this study, Nivolumab will be used in combination with sunitinib, pazopanib (existing treatments), or ipilimumab. These existing treatments have shown to reduce progression of the disease, but without lasting or durable response. Many patients eventually develop resistance to them. In other Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, Nivolumab has shown durable responses in patients with mRCC.

The ASCO poster session describes an ongoing four-arm Phase 1 dose-escalation and expansion study evaluating combinations of Nivolumab with sunitinib, pazopanib, or ipilimumab in patients with mRCC. The primary objectives are to assess safety and tolerability, and to determine the recommended Phase 2 dose in patients with mRCC. The secondary objective is to assess preliminary antitumor activity. Researchers will also evaluate overall survival, pharmacodynamics, predictive biomarkers for the combinations, pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity of Nivolumab.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our cancer / oncology section for the latest news on this subject. Abstract No: TPS4593
Clinical Trial information: NCT01472081
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The Many Benefits Of Robot-Assisted Kidney Cancer Surgery Do Not Include Cost

Main Category: Urology / Nephrology
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;??Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 09 May 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
The Many Benefits Of Robot-Assisted Kidney Cancer Surgery Do Not Include Cost

Robot-assisted surgery to remove kidney cancers has seen a rapid increase in use, and has both replaced and proven safer than laparoscopic procedures for the same purpose, according to a study by the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

However, the study also shows that robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN) - while resulting in fewer complications than both open (OPN) and laparoscopic (LPN) removal of cancerous kidney tissue - also involves more "excessive" hospital charges.

"Excessive hospital charges were significantly higher with robotic partial nephrectomy," says Khurshid R. Ghani, M.D., of Vattikuti Urology Institute and lead author of the study. "While we can report no cost-savings with the procedure - quite the opposite - the benefits are obvious."

"It is a safe operation that has rapidly replaced LPN as the most common minimally invasive approach for partial nephrectomy. It has shown superior results compared to open surgery, and was better than laparoscopy in every respect but cost," he adds

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association in San Diego.

Dr. Ghani says data was mined from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), which includes inpatient discharge information from 1,044 U.S. hospitals.

Between October 2008 - when the NIS first included an identifier for robot-assisted procedures - and December 2010, the researchers found a total of 38,064 patients who underwent OPN, LPN or RPN to treat kidney cancers that had not metastasized.

Of the total, nearly 70 percent had open surgery, nearly 24 percent had robot-assisted surgery and a little more than 9 percent were treated laparoscopically.

Researchers also noted that while all three forms of kidney surgery had increased in 2010, robot-assisted partial nephrectomy soared by more than 45 percent, far overshadowing the other two types.

Complications were tracked during and after each procedure. The Henry Ford team found: Patients undergoing RPN were least likely to receive a blood transfusion, while those who had open surgery were most likely to need one. The same was true for developing complications after surgery or requiring a prolonged hospital stay. Only those undergoing RPN were less likely to develop complications during surgery.Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our urology / nephrology section for the latest news on this subject. Funding source: Henry Ford Hospital
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