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. 2019 Apr 3;7(1):99.
doi: 10.1186/s40425-019-0579-z.

Real-world efficacy and safety of nivolumab in previously-treated metastatic renal cell carcinoma, and association between immune-related adverse events and survival: the Italian expanded access program

Elena Verzoni  1 , Giacomo Cartenì  2 , Enrico Cortesi  3 , Diana Giannarelli  4 , Andrea De Giglio  5 , Roberto Sabbatini  6 , Sebastiano Buti  7 , Sabrina Rossetti  8 , Francesco Cognetti  9 , Francesca Rastelli  10 , Alberto Sobrero  11 , Daniele Turci  12 , Cora N Sternberg  13 , Camillo Porta  14 , Federico Cappuzzo  15 , Giampaolo Tortora  16 , Davide Tassinari  17 , Stefano Panni  18 , Antonio Pazzola  19 , Gianmarco Surico  20 , Alessandra Raimondi  21 , Ugo De Giorgi  22 , Giuseppe Procopio  21 ; Italian Nivolumab Renal Cell Cancer Early Access Program group
Affiliations

Real-world efficacy and safety of nivolumab in previously-treated metastatic renal cell carcinoma, and association between immune-related adverse events and survival: the Italian expanded access program

Elena Verzoni et al. J Immunother Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: The Italian Renal Cell Cancer Early Access Program was an expanded access program that allowed access to nivolumab, for patients (pts) with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) prior to regulatory approval.

Methods: Pts with previously treated advanced or mRCC were eligible to receive nivolumab 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks. Pts included in the analysis had received ≥1 dose of nivolumab and were monitored for drug-related adverse events (drAEs) using CTCAE v.4.0. Immune-related (ir) AEs were defined as AEs displaying a certain, likely or possible correlation with immunotherapy (cutaneous, endocrine, hepatic, gastro-intestinal and pulmonary). The association between overall survival (OS) and irAEs was assessed, and associations between variables were evaluated with a logistic regression model.

Results: A total of 389 pts were enrolled between July 2015 and April 2016. Overall, the objective response rate was 23.1%. At a median follow-up of 12 months, the median progression-free survival was 4.5 months (95% CI 3.7-6.2) and the 12-month overall survival rate was 63%. Any grade and grade 3-4 drAEs were reported in 124 (32%) and 27 (7%) of pts, respectively, and there were no treatment-related deaths. Any grade irAEs occurred in 76 (20%) of patients, 8% cutaneous, 4% endocrine, 2% hepatic, 5% gastro-intestinal and 1% pulmonary. Of the 22 drAEs inducing treatment discontinuation, 10 (45%) were irAEs. Pts with drAEs had a significantly longer survival than those without drAEs (median OS 22.5 versus 16.4 months, p = 0.01). Pts with irAEs versus without irAEs had a more significant survival benefit (median OS not reached versus 16.8 months, p = 0.002), confirmed at the landmark analysis at 6 weeks. The occurrence of irAEs displayed a strong association with OS in univariable (HR 0.48, p = 0.003) and multivariable (HR 0.57, p = 0.02) analysis.

Conclusions: The appearance of irAEs strongly correlates with survival benefit in a real-life population of mRCC pts treated with nivolumab.

Keywords: Adverse events; Expanded access trials; Immunotherapy; Renal cell carcinoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Early Access Program for nivolumab received the approval by the Ethics Committee of each Italian Center included in the program.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Survival analysis for immune-related adverse events. Kaplan-Meier curves for overall survival in patients stratified for the occurrence of immune-related adverse events (a) and with landmark analysis at 6 weeks (b)
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