Efficacy analyses of axitinib and nivolumab in metastatic renal cell carcinoma after failure of targeted therapy: which is better?

Purpose: The objective of the present study was to compare the efficacy of axitinib and nivolumab in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) previously treated with targeted therapy.
Methods: A total of 79 patients were enrolled (39 patients in axitinib group, 40 patients in nivolumab group). Survival outcomes of patients, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. The associations between potential prognostic variables and OS were evaluated in univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses.
Results: The median PFS and OS of all cohort were 8.1 and 36.6 months, respectively. Higher PFS and OS were evaluated in axitinib group than nivolumab group (PFS: 9.4 months vs 6.3 months, p=0.386; OS: 38.2 months vs 36.6 months, p=0.671, respectively). Patients treated with axitinib had numerically higher objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) than those treated with nivolumab (ORR: 43.6% vs 27.6%, p=0.157, DCR: 74.4% vs 62.5%, p=0.157, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that the independent predictors of OS were higher tumor grade (hazard ratio [HR]: 6.178, p=0.004), worse response to axitinib and nivolumab (HR:4.902, p=0.011), the presence of lung metastasis (HR:15.637, p=0.002) and the presence of liver metastasis (HR:12.010, p=0.001).
Conclusion: Comparable survival outcomes were detected in the axitinib and nivolumab groups. However, head to head comparisons are needed to highlight the relative efficacy of these therapies in mRCC.