The efficacy of first-line everolimus/bevacizumab and interferon alfa-2a/bevacizumab appears similar in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, a recent study published online early in the journal Annals of Oncology has shown.

For the open-label, phase II RECORD-2 trial, researchers sought to compare the safety and efficacy of everolimus plus bevacizumab with interferon plus bevacizumab as first-line therapy for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Researchers enrolled 365 untreated patients and randomly assigned them 1:1 to bevacizumab 10mg/kg every 2 weeks with either everolimus 10mg/day or interferon 9MIU three times weekly, if tolerated.

Results showed that median progression-free survival was 9.3 months in the everolimus arm and 10.0 months in the interferon arm (P = 0.485). Researchers found that median overall survival was 27.1 months in both treatment arms.

In regard to safety, 23.4% from the everolimus arm and 26.9% from the interferon arm discontinued treatment due to adverse events.

The most common grade 3-4 adverse events in the everolimus/bevacizumab group were proteinuria, stomatitis, and anemia versus fatigue, asthenia, and proteinuria in the interferon/bevacizumab group.

Reference

1. Ravaud A, Barrios CH, Alekseev B, et al. RECORD-2: phase II randomized study of everolimus and bevacizumab versus interferon alfa-2a and bevacizumab as first-line therapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Ann Oncol. 2015. [Epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdv170.

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