Exelis Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) has announced positive Phase 1b clinical study results for the cabozantinib (CABOMETYX®) and atezolizumab (TECENTRIQ®) combination in treating patients with metastatic/locally advanced solid tumors.
Data from Phase 1b clinical trial presented at the 2020 ESMO Conference
The company presented the data from the two expansion groups of the COSMIC-021 study at the Virtual European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Conference 2020. Also, the company reported the clear cell renal cell carcinoma cohort results in the GU Proffered Paper Session on September 21.
Dr. Sumanta Pal, the lead investigator of the study and Clinical Professor at the City of Hope stated that considering the broad use of cabozantinib as advanced kidney cancer monotherapy it was exciting to see increasing clinical evidence showing encouraging clinical activity and tolerability when it is used in combination with atezolizumab in RCC. He added that they were encouraged to observe a durable objective response of over 50% in participants that previously were untreated of clear cell RCC.
Also, there was an acceptable safety profile at both dose levels of cabozantinib in combination with atezolizumab. Sumanta said that they are looking forward to learning more about the combination regimen to improve outcomes for patients with advanced kidney cancer from the current Phase 3 CONTACT-03 study.
Cabozantinib combination with atezolizumab showing a positive response
Preliminary results from the clear cell RCC cohort involved 70 RCC patients with clear cell histology that had previously not received systemic therapy. The patients were given atezolizumab in combination with 40 mg or 60 mg cabozantinib dose daily. Those on 40 mg cohort were followed-up for u to 28.8 months, and the overall response rate was 53% with one complete response while the disease control rate was 94%. Interestingly median progression-free survival was 19.5 months, with a 95% confidence interval, and only 17 adverse events were reported among the 34 patients.
On the other hand, the median follow-up for 60 mg cabozantinib was 15.3 months, and ORR was 58% with 4 complete responses, and disease control was 92%. There were 19 adverse events reported among the 36 patients.
