Everolimus slows disease progression in advanced papillary kidney cancer patients

The first Phase II study to investigate the use of the anti-cancer drug, everolimus, for the initial treatment of advanced papillary kidney cancer has shown that it is successful in slowing or preventing the spread of the disease, according to research to be presented today (Sunday) at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013) ^[1].

Dr Bernard Escudier, Head of the French Group of Immunotherapy and chairman of the Genitourinary tumour board at the Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France will say: "Our results showed that for 59% of patients who received everolimus as their first-line treatment, their disease did not get worse and remained stable. These findings are important and indicate that more than half of these cancer patients are getting some kind of benefit from everolimus treatment.

"Advanced papillary kidney cancer is a very difficult cancer to treat, and because there is no standard of care, there is disagreement amongst experts regarding the best treatment option for these patients. Our clinical findings are encouraging and suggest that everolimus may represent a new treatment option."

Papillary kidney cancer is the second most frequent type of kidney cancer and accounts for approximately 15% of all kidney cancer cases; it is five times more common in men than in women. When the cancer is confined to one location, surgical removal is usually associated with an excellent prognosis. However, when it spreads to other parts of the body, therapies are ineffective. There are two types of papillary cancer, based on cell appearance (histology), known as type I and type II. Type I are more common and grow slowly, whereas type II papillary kidney cancers are much more aggressive and have a poor prognosis.

Everolimus is an anti-cancer drug known as an mTOR inhibitor; mTOR stands for "mammalian target of rapamycin" and it is a protein that regulates vital cell growth processes, including cell metabolism, growth and proliferation. Its failure to function correctly is involved in the development of several cancers. ^[2]

Dr Escudier and his colleagues in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and the UK recruited 92 patients into the RAPTOR (RAD001 in Advanced Papillary Tumor Program in Europe) study, which started in July 2009. The patients, who had never received systemic treatment, were instructed to take the drug orally, once a day, at a dose of 10 mg for as long as they could tolerate it.

Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma Papillary renal cell carcinoma is also known as Type I papillary renal cell carcinoma. Previously, this disease was also known as Chromophillic renal cell carcinoma. Papillary renal cell carcinoma represents the second most common type of kidney cancer accounting for approximately 10 to 15% of all the kidney cancers which are diagnosed.

Papillary renal cell carcinomas are generally considered a less aggressive type of kidney cancer. These tumors are often diagnosed at the time of autopsy when the patient has died of another cause. In general, these tumors are usually well encapsulated, grow slowly, and have an overall lower malignant potential.