Highlights from IKCS 2019

The KCA’s International Kidney Cancer Symposium took place on November 15-16 in Miami, Florida. Here are a few of the highlights from the program.

Think Tank: Coalition for a Cure

The KCA convened it’s very first think tank prior to IKCS on November 14. Twenty-five of the top minds in kidney cancer from around the world covering five different specialties – medical oncology, urology, basic science, pharmaceutical industry, and patient advocacy – gathered to discuss the state of kidney cancer research and care and what immediate- and long-term goals were most critical to aim for. The discussion resulted in a list of key areas where researchers should focus their efforts:

• Long-lasting response to treatment/cure
• Screenings and small renal masses
• Surveillance for neo-adjuvant and adjuvant treatment
• Immunotherapy in refractory (unresponsive) renal cell carcinoma
• Non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma

The KCA will publish a white paper detailing the discussion and results with the aim to help guide others in the kidney cancer community with their research efforts.

Eugene P. Schonfeld Award

Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell, a professor and director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), was the first woman to receive the prestigious Eugene P. Schonfeld award, which is granted by the IKCS Scientific Program Committee to recognize respected health care professionals who have made significant contributions in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma. Read more about Dr. Rathmell and the award.

Research Highlights

Deb Maskens, kidney cancer survivor, advocate, and co-founder of Kidney Cancer Canada, presented results of a global patient survey.

• A survey of kidney cancer patients from around the world revealed that there are significant gaps in what patients understand about kidney cancer and what their options are. For example, many patients do not understand their diagnosis, specifically, they don’t know what their tumor type is, which is critical when it comes to treatment decision making. In general, patients also lack understanding or awareness about clinical trials, not because they are unwilling to participate, but because they are not being asked to participate, even when they are being treated at major cancer centers. Advocating for early, better understanding of a patient’s disease, including sub-type, stage, and treatment options including clinical trials is an important area of improvement. Watch the full presentation.
• New data from the TIVO-3 phase III clinical trial on the drug tivozanib shows it performed better in some measures than sorafenib over about 33 months of follow up. The trial was designed to compare the effects of tivozanib, an oral medication that stops tumor-feeding blood vessels from growing, with sorafenib in patients who were on their third or fourth line of therapy. In results presented earlier this year, patients on tivozanib went 7.3 months without disease progression compared with 5.1 months for patients on sorafenib. Median overall survival was still longer in the sorafenib arm – 19.6 months vs 16.4 months for tivozanib-treated patients. For patients, this is a significant trial because it potentially expands the options for later lines of therapy where currently there are few. Aveo Oncology, the drug developer, plan to re-submit tivozanib for FDA approval in relapsed and refractory kidney cancer patients in 2020.

Read more articles about the research presented at IKCS at…

Practice Update
Targeted Oncology
Medpage Today
JNCCN 360
Cancer Network
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Watch presentations from IKCS at the KCA’s channel on OncologyTube.