SITC 2021 | Clinical activity of cabozantinib in patients with RCC with brain metastases

Effective treatments for patients with brain metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represent an unmet clinical need. Whilst cabozantinib is known to be effective in metastatic RCC, its effect on brain metastases is unclear. Hannah Dzimitrowicz, MD, Duke Cancer Center, Durham, NC, explains the results from a study assessing the clinical activity and toxic effects of cabozantinib to treat brain metastases in patients with metastatic RCC either in patients with progressing brain metastases without concomitant brain-directed local therapy (cohort A) or patients with stable or progressing brain metastases concomitantly treated by brain-directed local therapy (cohort B). In this study, the intracranial response rate was 55% and 47% and the extracranial response rate was 48% and 38% in cohorts A and B respectively. The median time to treatment failure was 8.9 months in cohort A vs 9.7 months in cohort B and the median overall survival (OS) was 15 months in cohort A vs 16 months in cohort B. The safety profile of cabozantinib was acceptable. In conclusion, cabozantinib showed considerable intracranial activity in these patient groups. Further prospective studies evaluating the efficacy of this drug are required. This interview took place during the 36th Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.