Axitinib and avelumab (AA) as first-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC): A real-world outcome review in the Northwest of England, United Kingdom.
Authors: Jennifer Allison, Natalie Charnley, Robert Stevenson, Tom Waddell, Manon Rhys Pillai
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2021)

294 Background: The combination of the immune checkpoint inhibitor avelumab and VEGF-targeted, antiangiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib (AA) has demonstrated superior PFS and ORR compared to sunitinib in patients with mRCC and is an option for first line treatment across all IMDC risk scores. In this retrospective review we report our real world experience of this combination in three cancer centres in the Northwest of England. Methods: Treatment naïve mRCC patients receiving AA through the Early Access to Medicine Scheme at 3 cancer sites in the UK between May 2019 and July 2020 were identified. Primary outcomes of interest include overall response rate (ORR), adverse events (AEs) and preliminary survival observations. Results: A total of 44 patients were identified with a median follow up of 6.9 months (0.8-13.5 mo). Median age was 68 (48-81); 68% were male. The patients’ adult comorbidity evaluation score (ACE-27) was calculated: 0 = 43%, 1 = 30%, 2 = 7% and 3 = 20% . 45%, 48% and 7% of patients had favourable (F), intermediate (I) and poor (P) IMDC risk scores respectively. All had clear cell histology with 16% demonstrating sarcomatoid change. Most patients had undergone a nephrectomy (70%) and 36% had a single organ site of metastatic disease. ORR in the whole cohort was 60% (CR 5%, PR 55%, SD 25%, PD 2%, NE 13 %). Median time to first response was 2.6 months (0.6- 8.2mo). At time of data cut-off, 64% of patients remain on treatment (80% F, 48% I and 67% P). 14% of patients discontinued treatment due to disease progression while 22% stopped due to toxicity. The majority of patients (68%) continued axitinib at the starting dose of 5mg BD. Dose escalation of axitinib was possible in 9% patients while 23% needed a dose reduction due to toxicities. AEs were observed in 36 (82%) patients (G3 36%); the commonest being mucositis 30%; hypertension 23% (G3 11%); fatigue 25%; thyroid dysfunction 18%; diarrhoea 20% (G3 5%); hepatitis 20% (G3 11%). 9% of patients experienced an infusion reaction to avelumab. Overall, 9 (20%) patients received steroids for suspected immune related adverse events (irAEs); 6 (14%) were managed as G3≤ irAEs. 9 (20%) patients required inpatient admission due to AEs; 5 (11%) were associated with irAEs. Of the patients who discontinued AA treatment, 50% received subsequent therapy (12.5%, 75% and 12.5% receiving combination checkpoint inhibitor therapy, other VEFG TKi and TKi/MTOR combination respectively). 4 patients remain on active surveillance with no evidence of progression. Conclusions: Our early experience of AA in this real world setting reports comparable clinical responses to the published data. Treatment is well tolerated, with lower than expected levels of G3 or above AEs which is reassuring in a non-trial selected population. Follow-up is ongoing and updated efficacy and safety outcomes will be presented.