Drug combo improves survival for some kidney cancer patients

A combination of two targeted therapy drugs can dramatically improve survival for certain patients with newly diagnosed advanced kidney cancer, data from a midstage trial suggests.

The trial testing the two drugs was launched before therapies known as immune-checkpoint inhibitors became the preferred treatment for such patients.

But checkpoint inhibitors such as Merck’s Keytruda and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo cannot be used by patients with ​autoimmune diseases, and their cost can be prohibitive, ​especially in low-resource settings.

The 51 patients in the ⁠trial — all with clear cell renal carcinoma that had spread throughout the body by the time it was first detected — received Votrient from Novartis (NOVN.S), opens new tab and Roche’s Avastin on an alternating basis.

Both drugs block the action of a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, that promotes the growth of new blood ​vessels that can supply the tumor with oxygen and nutrients. Votrient’s effect on VEGF weakens over time, while Avastin actually removes VEGF from circulation.