Real-world outcomes of avelumab plus axitinib in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma in Japan: long-term follow-up from the J-DART2 retrospective study

Avelumab + axitinib was approved for advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC) in Japan in December 2019. We report long-term real-world outcomes with first-line avelumab + axitinib from the J-DART2 study in Japan.

J-DART2 was a multicenter, noninterventional, retrospective study examining clinical data from patients with curatively unresectable locally advanced or metastatic RCC who started treatment with first-line avelumab + axitinib in Japan between December 2019 and October 2022. Endpoints included patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes.

Data from 150 patients across 19 sites were analyzed; median follow-up was 18.7 months (95% CI, 16.3–20.6 months). Median age was 70.5 years; 26.0% of patients were aged ≤64 years, 42.7% were aged 65–74 years, and 31.3% were aged ≥75 years. International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium risk was favorable in 26.0%, intermediate in 54.7% (1 risk factor in 30.7%; 2 risk factors in 24.0%), and poor in 19.3% of patients. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 17.1 months, with 1- and 2-year PFS rates of 57.7% and 37.5%, respectively. Median overall survival (OS) was not reached, with 1- and 2-year OS rates of 90.6% and 84.7%, respectively. Objective response rate was 53.3%; disease control rate was 88.9%. Outcomes were similar across age groups, including patients aged ≥75 years.

J-DART2 is the largest retrospective study to report long-term real-world outcomes in patients with aRCC treated with avelumab + axitinib in Japan. Findings were similar to those observed in previous studies and support the benefit of avelumab + axitinib in clinical practice in Japan.