Patient Perspective on Medical Conditions Post Immune Checkpoint Therapy in Advanced Renal Carcinoma

TL;DR

A survey of kidney cancer patients found that immune therapy can lead to new or worsened health conditions like thyroid issues and hypertension.

Contribution

A patient survey was developed and used to assess medical comorbidities post-immune checkpoint therapy in advanced renal cancer.

Findings

Thyroid dysfunction was the most commonly reported condition among patients.

Nine percent of patients developed immune disorders after ICI therapy.

The survey highlighted the need for survivorship programs due to emerging or worsening medical conditions.

Abstract

Immune checkpoint therapy (ICI) has enabled induction of remission in advanced renal cell carcinoma RCC. ICI toxicities can persist as chronic health conditions. We developed a patient survey to assess changes in medical comorbidities after ICI. The survey was developed by the Kidney Cancer Research Alliance (KCCure), with multidisciplinary representation from urologic surgeons, medical oncologists, and patient advocates. The survey was broadcast between July 2022 and September 2022 to patients via website, mailing lists, and social media platforms. Patient perspective on changes to any medical conditions were evaluated in the survey questionnaire. Of 1062 patients that responded, 399 were self-identified as being metastatic and 289 reported to be treated with ICI. Eighty-five percent of respondents were from the United States. The most common conditions noted were thyroid dysfunction in 80 patients, hypertension in 50 patients, chronic kidney disease in 23 patients, heart disease in 10 patients, and diabetes mellitus (DM) in 13 patients. Immune disorders developed in 26 (9%) patients. The limitations are the survey had minimal participation from minority populations. Multiple medical conditions were noted to either emerge or worsen as a result of ICI-based therapies in RCC. Awareness of this information as a starting point should stimulate the development of survivorship programs for renal cancer. A survey of patients with advanced kidney cancer showed that some medical conditions such as thyroid dysfunction, hypertension, heart and kidney disease, DM, and immune conditions were newly diagnosed and/or persisted after immune therapy.

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