Several recent clinical studies have shown the benefit of combining checkpoint inhibitors with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) directed agents. JAVELIN Renal 101 was a randomised study comparing the combination of avelumab + axitinib versus sunitinib in the first line therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
A total of 886 patients were enrolled. In patients with programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, the median progression-free survival was 13.6 months versus 7.2 months favoring avelumab-axitinib.
Based on these results, the combination of avelumab and axitinib is a new standard first-line treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma.