Plain language summary of quality of life in CheckMate 9ER: Cabozantinib plus nivolumab in advanced renal cell carcinoma

WHAT IS THIS SUMMARY ABOUT? This is a plain language summary of an article about the quality-of-life analyses of the CheckMate 9ER study, originally published in the journal The Lancet Oncology. The CheckMate 9ER study compared two different treatment options in people with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which is an advanced form of kidney cancer. Investigators compared a newer drug combination, cabozantinib plus nivolumab (CaboNivo), with another drug called sunitinib. Sunitinib was the standard of care used to treat people with advanced RCC when the study was designed. The purpose of the study was to see whether people diagnosed with advanced RCC lived longer if they were treated with CaboNivo or sunitinib as their first treatment. Their quality of life while on treatment was also measured as part of the study. To understand the effect of treatment on their quality of life, people completed two types of questionnaires at regular intervals during the study. The first was the FACT Kidney Symptom Index (or FKSI-19) questionnaire, designed for people with kidney cancer. FKSI-19 asked questions about people's cancer symptoms and their side effects of cancer treatment, and how these impacted their quality of life. The second questionnaire was the EQ-5D-3L, designed for any person (with or without cancer). EQ-5D-3L asked people to rate five common aspects of health and their overall health. The study also looked at how long it took for quality-of-life questionnaire ratings to worsen. WHAT ARE THE KEY TAKEAWAYS? Results for both questionnaires suggested that quality of life was better for people in the CaboNivo group than those in the sunitinib group. People treated with CaboNivo were able to maintain their quality of life for longer than those treated with sunitinib. WHAT ARE THE MAIN CONCLUSIONS REPORTED BY THE RESEARCHERS? Overall, quality-of-life results from the CheckMate 9ER study showed that people treated with CaboNivo lived longer and were less bothered by the impact of their treatment than those treated with sunitinib. Based on these results, CaboNivo is one of the standard-of-care treatments recommended first for people with advanced RCC. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT03141177 (CheckMate 9ER) (ClinicalTrials.gov)