Novel concepts of antiangiogenic therapies in metastatic renal cell cancer

SummaryThe era of antiangiogenic drugs targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway has become a  mainstay in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), showing primary responses in 65–70% of patients. Nevertheless, most of those patients progress to angiogenesis inhibitors over time due to different modes of resistance (adaptive and intrinsic). Both in vitro and in vivo analys es provided evidence that PD-L1 upregulation in hypoxia conditions is dependent on hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2alpha and is associated with an overexpression of VEGF. Thus, additional blockade of PD-L1 along with inhibition of angiogenesis pathways seems to represent a novel and innovative trea tment concept in mRCC. In this short review, we provide an overview on ongoing phase III trials combining antiangiogenic therapies with checkpoint inhibitors in the first-line setting. Moreover, we critically analyze the impact of recently approved therapeutic antiangiogenic agents and checkpoint i nhibitors after progression to first-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors and their mode of action. In addition, response and resistance hypotheses and biomarkers to antiangiogenic therapy in clinical practice are critically discussed.
Source: Memo - Magazine of European Medical Oncology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research