Kidney and Bladder Cancer Breakthroughs Among Top ESMO 2020 News Everyday Health MenuNewslettersSearch Cancer Kidney and Bladder Cancer Breakthroughs Among Top ESMO 2020 News Immunotherapy drug combos are game changers for kidney cancer, patients with advanced bladder cancer have a new treatment option, and more from the European Society of Medical Oncology’s virtual annual meeting By Shari RoanReviewed: September 22, 2020Patients fighting kidney cancer have novel treatment options in the form of new drug combinations. iStock; Everyday HealthFact-CheckedA new drug combination is the best first treatment for people with kidney cancer that has metastasized to other parts of the body, according to data presented September 19 at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Virtual 2020 Congress. The study, dubbed CheckMate 9ER, showed that, for advanced kidney cancer, the combination of Opdivo (nivolumab), an immunotherapy drug, and Cabometyx (cabozantinib), an angiogenesis (blood vessel growth) inhibitor, led to improved outcomes compared with the current standard of care treatment, Sutent (sunitinib). The benefits were seen across many types of patients, including those of different ages and genders, with different levels of expression of PD-L1 (a biomarker that indicates how sensitive a tumor is to some immunotherapy drugs), and those in whom the cancer had spread to the bone. “Patients are significantly more likely to live free of disease progression when treated with nivolumab plus cabozantinib versus Sutent,” said study author Toni K. Choueiri, MD, director of The Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in, and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Combination Therapy Offers Obvious Survival Benefits The study included 651 previously untreated patients who were randomized to receive either the combination of Opdivo and Cabometyx or Sutent. Opdivo plus Cabometyx showed an improved progression-free survival time (time during which the cancer is not progressing) of 16.6 months compared with 8.3 months for Sutent alone. The median duration of response after 18 months of follow-up was 20.2 months for the combination therapy compared with 11.5 months for Sutent. “Patients in the Sutent arm continued to experience decline and patients in the nivolumab plus cabozantinib group experienced improvement,” Dr. Choueiri said. “Beyond improved treatment response, nivolumab plus cabozantinib offered patients better health-related quality of life compared with Sutent.” The study follow-up period was only 18 months, however, and questions remain about how long the patients’ responses may last. Moreover, the combination therapy was associated with significant side effects. More than one-half of the patients in the combination arm of the study required a dose reduction due to side effects. About 3 percent stopped the therapy due to toxicity compared with 9 percent in the Sutent group. Sponsored Advertising Content 3 Ways to Empower Yourself After an Advanced Bladder Cancer DiagnosisAn advanced bladder cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. Together with your healthcare team and advocate(s), you can take the necessary steps to take charge of your treatment plan.…Learn More Data Supporting Combinations for Kidney Cancer GrowThe CheckMate 9ER study is in phase 3, the most advanced stage of research prior to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. It follows other clinical trials that demonstrated an advantage to combining therapies for kidney cancer instead of using single drugs. Another study presented at ESMO on September 17, for instance, also demonstrated the clear-cut value of using a combination of medications for kidney cancer. Researchers found the combination of Opdivo (nivolumab) plus Yervoy (ipilimumab) in newly diagnosed patients with advanced kidney cancer was superior to Sutent (sunitinib). In this trial, known as CheckMate-214, the median overall survival rate for the combination was 48.1 months compared with 38.4 months for Sutent. More than one-half of the patients treated with the combination were alive at four years. Both studies add to a growing list of treatment options for people with advanced kidney cancer, said Dominik Berthold, MD, of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dr. Berthold was not involved in either study. “All of this is pretty impressive,” he said. “Physicians will have choices.” RELATED: Cancer News Digest: The Latest Developments in Cancer Research and Treatment for June 2020 In Other News From ESMO New Approach to Treating Advanced Bladder Cancer Giving patients with advanced or metastatic urothelial (bladder) cancer the drug Bavencio (avelumab) along with supportive care extended overall survival more than supportive care alone, according to a study published September 18 in The New England Journal of Medicine with release of additional details at ESMO. Bladder cancer is challenging to treat when it spreads beyond the bladder to other parts of the body. Many patients don’t receive any therapy beyond supportive care after receiving chemotherapy, according to the study authors. (Best supportive care is treatment to help the patient with pain or quality-of-life issues.) Bavencio is a type of immunotherapy known as PD-L1 inhibitor. The drug allows the immune system to recognize and mount an immune response to cancer cells. In June, the FDA approved Bavencio for maintenance therapy of patients with advanced or metastatic bladder cancer that had stabilized on chemotherapy. The approval was based on data from the JAVELIN Bladder 100 clinical trial that showed median overall survival with Bavencio was 21.4 months compared with 14.3 months with best supportive care. The new data show that, at one year, 71.3 percent of patients taking Bavencio were alive compared with 58.4 percent of those receiving supportive care. "These data … establish that Bavencio first-line maintenance treatment could fundamentally change clinical practice for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma," said coauthor Thomas Powles, MD, professor of genitourinary oncology and lead for solid tumour research at Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London, and Director of Barts Cancer Centre in London. RELATED: Blood Cancer Awareness Month: September 2020 Post-Surgical Radiation Is Overkill for Lung Cancer Patients Who ve Had Surgery and Chemotherapy Adding radiation after surgery and chemotherapy produces no statistically significant survival benefit in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data presented September 19 at ESMO. The value of adding post-operative radiation therapy in these patients has been debated for years. The new study, a large, randomized clinical trial, provides more data to help physicians choose the best treatment regimen, said the lead author of the study, Cécile Le Pechoux, MD, a radiation oncologist from Gustave Roussy Institute in Paris. In the trial, 501 patients with stage 2 or stage 3 NSCLC with mediastinal lymph node involvement (cancer in the lymph nodes in the chest) were randomized to receive a five-week course of post-operative radiotherapy (PORT) after chemotherapy or no radiation therapy. The study showed disease-free survival in 47.1 percent of the patients who received post-operative radiation compared with 43.8 percent in those who did not. “Physicians around the world hesitated whether to provide the therapy or not,” said Rafal Dziadziuszko, MD, Medical University of Gdansk in Poland. Dr. Dziadziuszko was not involved in the study. “This is a clear message that routine PORT should not be used in these patients.” RELATED: American Cancer Society Releases New Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines NEWSLETTERS Sign up for our Cancer Care Newsletter SubscribeBy subscribing you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The Latest in Cancer New Guidelines Recommend Best Uses of Acupuncture Massage and Other Non-Drug Treatments for Cancer Pain Leading organizations say complementary therapies such as reflexology and hypnosis may provide pain relief for some cancers.By Susan K. TreimanOctober 4, 2022 Is Chemotherapy Bringing You Down Research shows that chemotherapy can cause depression. Fortunately, you can take steps to manage your mental well-being during treatment.By Carolyn BernhardtSeptember 15, 2022 Ultra-Processed Foods and Drinks Linked to Colorectal Cancer and Early DeathTwo new studies suggest that ‘convenience’ foods may come at a high cost to our health.By Becky UphamSeptember 14, 2022 Cancer Cases Rising Dramatically in Adults Under 50More sedentary lifestyles, less-healthy eating habits, and increased screening may all play a role, a new study suggests.By Lisa RapaportSeptember 12, 2022 Does the Ink Used in Tattoos Pose a Health Risk New research finds unreliable labels and potentially concerning ingredients in many popular tattoo inks.By Becky UphamAugust 30, 2022 Nearly Half of All Cancer Deaths Around the World Could Be PreventedSmoking, drinking too much alcohol, and excess weight are leading causes of preventable cancer deaths, according to new global study.By Becky UphamAugust 30, 2022 Spotlight On Survivor FitnessGetting in shape after cancer treatment can be part of the path toward finding yourself again. Aaron Grunke has created a foundation to help survivors...By Lambeth HochwaldJuly 25, 2022 2-Step Gene Sequencing Shows Who May Respond to Cancer ImmunotherapyScientists used a process known as whole exome sequencing to examine 20,000 genes for a clearer picture of who may benefit from targeted cancer drugs ...By Lisa RapaportJuly 13, 2022 Weight Loss Surgery Is Tied to a Lower Risk of Obesity-Related CancersPeople with obesity who undergo bariatric surgery to lose weight have a lower risk of developing and dying of cancer, a new study suggests.By Lisa RapaportJune 8, 2022 Experimental Rectal Cancer Drug Eliminates Tumors in Small TrialEvery rectal cancer patient in the small trial who took the experimental drug dostarlimab for 6 months went into complete remission.By Lisa RapaportJune 7, 2022 MORE IN Why the Latest Screening Tests and Treatments Offer Hope for Ovarian Cancer The High Cost of Cancer Care in the U S Doesn t Improve Survival Rates Cancer News Digest The Latest Developments in Cancer Research and Treatment for October 2020