This phase 2 trial aims to test the feasibility and efficiency of PET/CT-directed treatment interruption strategy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients with IMDC favorable/intermediate risk who achieve complete (CMR) or partial metabolic response (PMR) after ≥12 months of first-line PD-1/PD-L1 Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)+ VEGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. It helps figure out whether PET/CT can safely direct treatment pause as well as explores a new individualized treatment option based on metabolic imaging for RCC patients.
Current first-line therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) combines tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Although effective, continuous treatment often results in cumulative toxicities, significant financial burdens, and potential overtreatment for patients. To improve such limitations, intermittent therapy strategies has gained more attention. However, existing approaches are constrained by insufficient induction periods (\<12 months) that may compromise treatment depth, and reliance on anatomic CT criteria (RECIST 1.1) which cannot reliably differentiate residual active tumor from treatment-related fibrosis/necrosis. PET/CT quantifies tumor metabolic activity via standardized uptake values (SUV), enabling early molecular-level response assessment per PERCIST 1.0 criteria, thus shows promising prospects. This trial implements a two-stage screening approach. During the pre-screening period, eligible unresectable/metastatic RCC patients with IMDC low/intermediate risk sign the Pre-screening Consent Form to receive ≥12 months of standard ICI+TKI therapy. Consolidative surgery and consolidative radiotherapy during combination therapy are permitted. Patients achieving complete metabolic response (CMR) or partial metabolic response (PMR) on PET/CT within 24 months undergo main screening. Those qualifying sign the Informed Consent Form (ICF), discontinue both agents and enter a closely monitored treatment holiday. During this phase, serial imaging (CT with supplemental PET/CT when indicated) will be performed every 12 ± 1 weeks. Therapy will be restarted immediately if any of the following occur: * A ≥10% increase in the sum of the longest diameters (SLD) of target lesions from nadir, concurrent with a ≥30% increase in the peak standardized uptake value normalized to lean body mass (SULpeak) relative to baseline; * New lesion with SULpeak exceeding liver background. Peripheral blood and other biological samples from participants at different time points during the trial will be collected for future analyses. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival (PFS) rate at 24 months from treatment initiation. Secondary endpoints include duration of response after interruption, objective response rate after restarting therapy, safety (CTCAE v5.0-graded adverse events), patient-reported outcomes and cost-effectiveness. This study pioneers metabolic imaging to guide intermittent therapy in mRCC patients, utilizing extended induction and dual anatomic/metabolic restart thresholds to optimize risk-benefit balance while reducing treatment burden.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
30
Any PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor or VEGFR-TKI that is commercially marketed, regulatory-approved and reimbursed under public health plans.Dose as recommended by the manufacturer.
Jinling Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
RECRUITINGProgression-free survival (PFS) rate
Proportion of participants alive and without disease progression at 24 months will be assessed according to PERCIST 1.0 criteria.
Time frame: 24 months from treatment initiation
Duration of response (DoR)
Time from first documented complete metabolic response (CMR) or partial metabolic response (PMR) to disease progression or death.
Time frame: From treatment interruption until disease progression or death, assessed up to 24 months
Overall survival (OS)
Time from date of enrollment to date of death due to any cause.
Time frame: From treatment initiation until death from any cause, assessed up to 5 years
Progression free survival (PFS)
Time from first study drug administration to first documented objective disease progression (PD) or death, whichever occurs first.
Time frame: From treatment initiation until disease progression or death from any cause, assessed up to 5 years
Overall safety profile
Frequency and severity of adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs) graded by National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), version 5.0 criteria.
Time frame: From the date of the first study drugs administration up to 90 days after the last dose of study drugs administration
Patient-reported outcome (PRO) - Health-related quality of life measured by NCCN FKSI-19
Measured by the NCCN functional assessment of cancer therapy-kidney symptom index (FKSI-19), a 19-item scale assessing treatment-related symptoms and side effects for kidney cancer patients.
Time frame: 24 months from treatment initiation
Patient-reported outcome (PRO) - Health-related quality of life measured by EORTC QLQ-C30
Measured by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), a 30-item instrument assessing various domains of physical, emotional, and social functioning for cancer patients.
Time frame: 24 months from treatment initiation
Patient-reported outcome (PRO) - General Health status measured by EQ-5D-5L
Measured by the "5-Level EuroQol Group's 5-Dimension" (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire which comprises the EQ-5D index evaluating health across five dimensions and the EQ-VAS which is a 0-100 visual scale for self-rated overall health.
Time frame: 24 months from treatment initiation
Patient-reported outcome (PRO) - Anxiety and depression status measured by HADS
Measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) which contains 14 items with 7 items measuring anxiety level and 7 items measuring depression level.
Time frame: 24 months from treatment initiation
Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs)
The quality-adjusted time without symptoms or toxicity (Q-TWiST) integrates data from patient-reported outcomes (PROs) into survival calculations. It quantifies the utility-weighted sum of mean time across three health states: time with all-cause grade 3/4 toxicity prior to progression, time without grade 3/4 toxicity or symptoms of progression, and time after progression.
Time frame: 24 months from treatment initiation
Cost-effectiveness
Measured by the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) to provide the ratio of incremental cost per additional quality-adjusted life year (QALY).
Time frame: 24 months from treatment initiation
Distribution of treatment modality after progression
Proportion of participants receiving surveillance, focal treatment, or systemic therapy after disease progression.
Time frame: 36 months from treatment initiation
Objective response rate (ORR) after restarting treatment
Proportion of participants achieving CMR or PMR per PERCIST 1.0 within 6 months of restarting therapy after progression.
Time frame: 6 months after restarting therapy
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