Case report: treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma with nivolumab plus cabozantinib in routine clinical practice

According to GLOBOCAN, there were about 18 million new cases of cancer and 9.6 million deaths from malignancies worldwide in 2018. Renal cell carcinoma is a malignant tumor characterized by the loss of the VHL gene, which leads to increased angiogenesis. The potential of immuno-oncology and anti-angiogenic drugs has significantly improved outcomes for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The phase III CheckMate 9ER study compared the efficacy and safety of nivolumab plus cabozantinib versus sunitinib in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. The advantages of nivolumab plus cabozantinib over sunitinib in terms of progression-free survival, overall survival, and objective response rate were generally similar across subgroups based on IMDC risk, PD-L1 expression, and the presence or absence of bone metastases. We present a case report of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The patient has been on cabozantinib plus nivolumab therapy for 12 months, with a partial response achieved. Treatment was well tolerated; the profile of adverse events was consistent with that in the clinical study.