Dr. McDermott on Major Findings of Efficacy and Safety of Nivolumab in RCC

David F. McDermott, MD, director of the Biologic Therapy Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, discusses the findings of the phase III CheckMate-025 trial of nivolumab (Opdivo) versus everolimus (Afinitor) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

The results of the trial demonstrated that nivolumab was significantly superior to everolimus in patients who had failed prior antiangiogenic therapy, with improvements in overall survival (OS), quality of life, and safety.

Knowledge of the safety profile of an immunotherapy such as nivolumab is important, especially when the drug is administered over a long period of time, says McDermott. Most of the toxicities associated with nivolumab occurred in the first 6 months, and adverse events seemed to decrease after that point.

In fact, in the phase II trial, after 30 months on nivolumab, no adverse events were observed in patients on the study, according to McDermott. These findings are very encouraging for patients who may require chronic therapy.