Comparative Efficacy of Combination Therapy of Ipilimumab Plus Nivolumab for Non-clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

BACKGROUND/AIM: The survival benefit of immune checkpoint inhibitors for non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma (nccRCC) is unclear. Our purpose was to evaluate the real-world survival benefit of ipilimumab plus nivolumab retrospectively. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 33 patients with metastatic nccRCC who received combination therapy with ipilimumab plus nivolumab or monotherapy with a molecular targeted agent as initial systemic therapy. Progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and objective response rate were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Median PFS of each therapy was 3.5 and 4.7 months (p=0.61) and median OS was 19.6 and 10.6 months (p=0.23), respectively. Three patients treated with ipilimumab and nivolumab had a complete response, resulting in an objective response rate of 30.0%, while that for molecular targeted therapy was 4.5% (p=0.04). CONCLUSION: Ipilimumab plus nivolumab achieved statistically non-significant, but longer overall survival and significantly higher objective response rate.