Association between systemic treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in renal cell carcinoma and reduced risk of brain metastasis development.

Objective: Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) efficacy in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) without brain metastases (BMs) is well established in several clinical trials; however, patients with BMs were typically excluded from these trials. Therefore, the efficacy of ICI in the treatment or prevention of BM remains unclear. The primary aim of the study was to address the efficacy of ICI in treatment of patients with RCC BMs compared with patients receiving targeted therapies.

Adjuvant crizotinib in high-risk uveal melanoma following definitive therapy.

Introduction: Approximately 40% of patients with uveal melanoma (UM) will develop metastatic disease. Tumors measuring at least 12mm in basal diameter with a class 2 signature, as defined by a widely used gene expression-profiling test, are associated with significantly higher risk of metastasis, with a median time to recurrence of 32 months. No therapy has been shown to reduce this risk.

Survival benefit with resection of brain metastases from renal cell carcinoma in the setting of molecular targeted therapy and/or immune therapy.

Patient survival with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has improved with the use of molecular targeted agents and immunotherapy. Given the potential activity of these agents in treating brain metastases, the role of aggressive local management with surgery and/or radiation may diminish. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of aggressive local therapy for RCC brain metastasis in the setting of molecular targeted agents and/or checkpoint inhibitor therapy.

Three-year survival, correlates and salvage therapies in patients receiving first-line pembrolizumab for advanced Merkel cell carcinoma.

Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive skin cancer associated with poor survival. Programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) pathway inhibitors have shown high rates of durable tumor regression compared with chemotherapy for MCC. The current study was undertaken to assess baseline and on-treatment factors associated with MCC regression and 3-year survival, and to explore the effects of salvage therapies in patients experiencing initial non-response or tumor progression after response or stable disease following first-line pembrolizumab therapy on Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network-09/KEYNOTE-017.

Individualised axitinib regimen for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma after treatment with checkpoint inhibitors: a multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 study.

Background: Checkpoint inhibitor therapy is a standard of care for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Treatment options after checkpoint inhibitor therapy include vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGF-R) tyrosine kinase inhibitors, although no prospective data regarding their use in this setting exist. Axitinib is a VEGF-R inhibitor with clinical data supporting increased activity with dose titration.