Long-term Outcome With Prolonged Use of Interferon-alpha Administered Intermittently for Metastatic Renal Cell...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunotherapy
• Renal Cell Carcinoma Research

Background:

• Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) has demonstrated survival advantages in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).
• Limited data exists on the long-term outcomes of IFN-alpha treatment in mRCC.
• Understanding long-term effects is crucial for evaluating IFN-alpha in combination therapies, including with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the long-term outcomes of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).
• To provide the longest follow-up data available for IFN-alpha therapy in mRCC.
• To evaluate the survival benefit and response patterns associated with prolonged IFN-alpha treatment.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 117 treatment-naïve mRCC patients were enrolled between 1994-2002 and followed until January 2022.
• Median follow-up duration was 18 months, with a mean IFN-alpha treatment duration of 11 months.
• Patients did not receive later-line therapies like tyrosine kinase inhibitors or bevacizumab post-progression if performance status was poor or treatments were unavailable.

Main Results:

• The median overall survival was 19.0 months, with a 5-year survival rate of 16.2% and a 10-year survival rate of 9.0%.
• Significant survival differences were observed based on treatment response: median overall survival was 52.0 months for objective responses, 25.0 months for stable disease, and 5.0 months for progressive disease (p<0.001).
• Five-year survival rates varied by risk group: 29% for low-risk, 20% for intermediate-risk, and 7% for high-risk patients (p=0.001).

Conclusions:

• Prolonged IFN-alpha treatment can lead to late objective responses, durable complete responses, and long-term survival in mRCC patients with acceptable toxicity.
• IFN-alpha remains a viable alternative therapy option within multi-line treatment strategies for mRCC.
• IFN-alpha presents an interesting option for combined therapeutic approaches, particularly in conjunction with immune checkpoint inhibitors.