Tracy Rose, MD, MPH

THE FORMAL DISCUSSANT of the KEYNOTE-427 trial, Tracy Rose, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told listeners: “I think pembrolizumab should now be considered an option for non–clear cell kidney cancer. Response rates, however, remain inferior to those seen in clear cell kidney cancers. We really need randomized studies to know what to do. Programmed cell death ligand 1 staining as well as subtype may be predictive of response, although I do not think we can use either to dictate therapy at this point,” she added.

Dr. Rose noted that the disease control rate was 33% in the chromophobe subtype. “This is a histology that has been historically difficult to treat and unresponsive to our available treatments,” she commented. “Sunitinib is currently the standard of care for non–clear cell renal cell carcinoma, but it’s very clear that pembrolizumab is better tolerated than sunitinib in the first-line setting,” she added. ■

DISCLOSURE: Dr. Rose has received research funding from Genentech/Roche, X4P Pharmaceuticals, and GeneCentric Therapeutics.