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Racial Differences in Clinical Outcomes for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated With Immune-Checkpoint Blockade.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Immune-checkpoint-inhibitors (ICIs) have become the cornerstone of metastatic renal-cell-carcinoma (mRCC) therapy. However, data are limited regarding clinical outcomes by race. In this study, we compared the real-world outcomes between African American (AA) and Caucasian mRCC patients treated with ICIs.

Methods

We performed a retrospective study of 198 patients with mRCC who received ICI at the Emory Winship Cancer Institute from 2015-2020. Clinical outcomes were measured by overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall response rate (ORR) defined as a complete or partial response maintained for at least 6 months per response evaluation criteria in solid tumors version 1.1. Univariate and multivariable analyses were carried out for OS and PFS by Cox proportional-hazard model and ORR by logistical-regression model. Descriptive statistics compared rates of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and non-clear-cell-RCC (nccRCC) histology were assessed using Chi-square test.

Results

Our cohort was comprised of 38 AA and 160 Caucasian patients. Most were diagnosed with clear-cell-RCC (ccRCC) (78%) and more than half received (57%) PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy. Most patients were intermediate or poor-risk groups (83%). Comparing to Caucasians, our AA cohort contained more females and nccRCC cases. Kaplan-Meier method showed AAs had no statistically different median OS (17 vs 25 months, p=0.368) and PFS (3.1 vs 4.4 months, p=0.068) relative to Caucasian patients. On multivariable analysis, AA patients had significantly shorter PFS (HR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.01-2.3, p=0.045), similar ORR (OR=1.04, 95% CI: 0.42-2.57, p=0.936) and comparable OS (HR=1.09, 95% CI: 0.61-1.95, p=0.778) relative to Caucasians.

Conclusions

Our real-world analysis of ICI-treated mRCC patients showed that AAs experienced shorter PFS but similar OS relative to Caucasians. This similarity in survival outcomes is reassuring for the use of ICI amongst real-world patient populations, however, the difference in treatment response is poorly represented in early outcomes data from clinical trials. Thus, the literature requires larger prospective studies to validate these findings.

SUBMITTER: Olsen TA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8242950 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundThe International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC) criteria are the gold standard for risk-stratifying patients with metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC). We developed a novel risk scoring system for patients with mRCC treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of 100 ICI-treated patients with mRCC at Winship Cancer Institute from 2015 to 2018. Several baseline variables were collected, including markers of inflammation, body mass index (BMI), and sites of metastatic disease, and all were considered for inclusion in our risk scoring system. Upon variable selection in multivariable model, monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), BMI, and number and sites of metastases at baseline were used for risk score calculation. Patients were categorized using four-level risk groups as good (risk score = 0), intermediate (risk score = 1), poor (risk score = 2), or very poor (risk score = 3-4). Cox's proportional hazard model and the Kaplan-Meier method were implemented for survival outcomes.ResultsMost patients were male (66%) with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (72%). The majority (71%) received anti-programmed cell death protein-1 monotherapy. Our risk scoring criteria had higher Uno's concordance statistics than IMDC in predicting overall survival (OS; 0.71 vs. 0.57) and progression-free survival (0.61 vs. 0.58). Setting good risk (MLR <0.93, BMI ≥24, and D_Met = 0) as the reference, the OS hazard ratios were 29.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.64-238.9), 6.58 (95% CI, 0.84-51.68), and 3.75 (95% CI, 0.49-28.57) for very poor, poor, and intermediate risk groups, respectively.ConclusionRisk scoring using MLR, BMI, and number and sites of metastases may be an effective way to predict survival in patients with mRCC receiving ICI. These results should be validated in a larger, prospective study.Implications for practiceA risk scoring system was created for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. The results of this study have significant implications for practicing oncologists in the community and academic setting. Importantly, these results identify readily available risk factors that can be used clinically to risk-stratify patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who are treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

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