Best Practices for the Management of Treatment-related Adverse Events in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the ninth most common type of cancer in adults, accounting for approximately 90% of all kidney cancers worldwide, with poor prognosis in advanced stages and an estimated 5-year relative survival rate of 13%. According to the National Cancer Institute’s surveillance, epidemiology, and end results statistics report, nearly 74,000 new cases of kidney cancer were diagnosed in the United States alone in 2019, accounting for 4.2% of all cancer diagnoses—almost double the global average. In 2021, an estimated 76,080 adults in the U.S. will be diagnosed with RCC and 13,780 people will die from the disease, with males (48,780) diagnosed twice as often as females (27,300). Most patients with RCC—prevalently Black, American Indian, and Alaskan Native descent individuals—are diagnosed between the ages of 65-74, with the median of diagnosis at 64 years of age.

In recent years, due to the clinical application of immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor combinations in the front-line setting, there has been significant progress in the treatment of RCC. However, immune-related adverse events remain an area of concern requiring improvement, and choosing the appropriate treatment for different metastatic patterns is crucial to optimizing treatment management of patients with metastatic RCC (mRCC). This is particularly true in the community setting where practitioners are often challenged to gain requisite experience across all cancer types and keep abreast of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines related to implementing safe and effective immunotherapy-based regimen for patients with mRCC.

Survey

ACCC issued a provider survey to garner insights into the care journey of patients with renal cell carcinoma. The survey aimed to identify current practice patterns regarding treatment selection, guideline-based irAE management, care coordination, patient education, prior authorization, and barriers to optimal care.

Thank you to all those who provided their time and insights. Survey results are available here.

Live Quality Improvement Workshops

Virtual workshops focused on care coordination, patient education, adverse events assessment, and shared decision-making discussions to improve the management of treatment-related adverse events in patients with renal cell carcinoma were hosted by select ACCC member centers this year. The workshops were be led by a panel of multidisciplinary faculty experts and included an assessment of practice patterns, identification of site-specific challenges, and case-based discussion of recent clinical evidence.

For more information on this project, please contact the ACCC Provider Education department.