Cabozantinib plus Nivolumab: A Review in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma

Dual therapy with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) and either a programmed death protein/ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-₄) inhibitor has proven efficacy as treatment for previously-untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The combination of the multi-targeted TKI cabozantinib (Cabometyx^®) and the anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody nivolumab (Opdivo^®) is approved as first line treatment for RCC in the EU, USA and multiple other countries. In the CheckMate 9ER trial, combination therapy with cabozantinib and nivolumab was superior to sunitinib monotherapy as first line treatment for advanced RCC, demonstrating significantly longer progression-free survival and, importantly, improved overall survival. Patients receiving the combination were also more likely to respond than those treated with sunitinib monotherapy. In addition, health-related quality of life was significantly better with cabozantinib plus nivolumab at nearly all time points during the study. The tolerability profile of the combination was consistent with that seen in previous studies evaluating the two drugs as monotherapy, although more patients who received the combination had serious adverse events than those treated with sunitinib monotherapy. In summary, cabozantinib plus nivolumab is a recommended option for first-line treatment of previously-untreated advanced RCC.