Phase II Randomized Trial of Radium-223 Dichloride and Cabozantinib in Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma With Bone Metastases: RADICAL (Alliance A031801)
PURPOSE Bone metastases (BM) occur in approximately 30% of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) and are associated with poor survival and symptomatic skeletal events (SSEs). Radium-223, an alpha-emitting bone-seeking radioisotope, and cabozantinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, have demonstrated activity in BM. RADICAL (Alliance A031801; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04071223 ) evaluated cabozantinib ± radium-223 in mRCC with BM. METHODS This phase II trial enrolled patients with mRCC of any histology with ≥1 BM. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to cabozantinib ± radium-223, stratified by osteoclast-targeted therapy (OTT), prior therapy, opioid use, and International mRCC Database Consortium (IMDC) risk. The primary end point was SSE-free survival (SSE-FS). Secondary end points included safety, objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival, and overall survival (OS). A target of 124 evaluable patients was planned, with a prespecified interim futility analysis at 50% of expected SSE-FS events; the trial would stop if the stratified hazard ratio (sHR) > 1.0. RESULTS The prespecified interim futility analysis was conducted after 90 patients were enrolled and crossed the futility boundary, leading to closure at 98 patients. The final analysis included all 98 patients. Median age was 63 years, 82.7% had clear cell histology, and 79.6% were using an OTT. IMDC risk was favorable (18.4%), intermediate (67.3%), and poor (14.3%). Median follow-up was 13.1 months. Median SSE-FS for cabozantinib with radium-223 versus cabozantinib was 16.7 versus 17.6 months (sHR, 1.46 [90% CI, 0.86 to 2.51]). Median OS was 28.3 versus 19.7 months (sHR, 1.40 [95% CI, 0.70 to 2.79]). ORR was 19.4% versus 25.0% ( P = .78). Grade ≥3 adverse events were similar across arms (69.6% v 75.5%). CONCLUSION Radium-223 did not improve SSE-FS when added to cabozantinib. The combination demonstrated a manageable safety profile.
Authors
- Mamta Parikh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7300-7452)
- Joshua M. Lang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0943-8872)
- Michael J. Morris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9454-0096)
- Matthew D. Galsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7655-9378)
- Daniel J. George (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1499-7203)
- Umang Swami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3518-0411)
- Archana Ajmera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4509-0447)
- Brian C. Baumann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7482-1413)
- Himisha Beltran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3259-2226)
- Jonathan E. Rosenberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2637-4249)
- Toni K. Choueiri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9201-3217)
- Young Kwok (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1484-8507)
- Deepak Kilari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-1901)
- Rana R. McKay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0581-7963)
- Heather A. Jacene (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7167-078X)
- Bradley A. McGregor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8298-0289)
- Yuanquan Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5209-9247)
- Tareq Al Baghdadi
- Stephanie Berg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6193-5350)
- Atish D. Choudhury (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9344-6631)
- Karla V. Ballman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4492-0357)
- Suzanne Cole (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8390-6315)
- Ronald C. Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4590-8640)
- Tian Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8914-3531)
- Pamela J. Atherton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8078-337X)
- Alan Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6350-5917)
Institutions
- University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
- Mount Sinai Hospital (US)
- Mayo Clinic (US)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- Medical College of Wisconsin (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- Huntsman Cancer Institute (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
- Duke Medical Center (US)
- University of Kansas Medical Center (US)
- Springfield Clinic (US)
- IHA Hematology Oncology Consultants (US)
- Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center
- The Ohio State University (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Published
- 2026-07-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1200/jco-26-01135
- Primary Topic
- Renal cell carcinoma treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Abbott Laboratories
- Lantheus Medical Imaging
- Boston Scientific Corporation
- Abiomed
- National Institutes of Health
- National Cancer Institute