Prognostic Significance of Immune-related Adverse Events in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated With Immune-checkpoint-inhibitors.

Background/aim: Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) develop in a subset of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) treated with immune-checkpoint-inhibitors (ICIs). Evidence regarding the prognostic impact of irAEs remains limited in these patients.

Patients And Methods: Ninety-one consecutive patients with mRCC treated with ICIs were retrospectively analyzed. Overall survival (OS) rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. In multivariate analysis, predictors of OS were analyzed using the Cox-proportional-hazards-model.

Results: Twenty-nine patients were treated with the combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab. According to International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium risk classification, 27/47/17 patients were classified into favorable/intermediate/poor risk categories. The 1, 3, and 5-year OS-rates were 89, 70, and 57%, respectively. A total of 67 irAEs occurred in 44 patients (48%), including 15 patients with grade 3-4. OS was significantly longer in patients with irAEs (p=0.01). In multivariate analysis, Karnofsky performance status, prior nephrectomy, and irAEs were independent significant predictors of OS.

Conclusion: In our study, irAEs were significantly associated with OS in mRCC patients treated with ICIs.