Two drugs more effective than standard Kidney Cancer Treatment

A new drug has been found superior to current treatments in slowing the growth of advanced kidney cancer in patients who became resistant to the first-line therapies that had kept it in check, according to results from a clinical trial led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Such patients are currently treated with Everolimus (Affinitor), a second-line therapy, which can halt the cancer's growth for a time. But the new drug, Cabozantinib, largely outperformed everolimus in the trial, according to a report published online in the New England Journal of Medicine and showed signs that it may prolong survival as well. Cabozantinib controlled the cancer in the drug-resistant patients more effectively than everolimus. Moreover, the early results show a "strong trend indicating that survival may be improved in patients receiving cabozantinib compared to standard therapy," said Toni K. Choueiri, MD, clinical director of the Genitourinary Cancer Treatment Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the first author of the report. He said the drug has received breakthrough therapy designation by the Food and Drug Administration, and may become available soon for patients if it is approved.