A trial looking at axitinib for the treatment of advanced kidney cancer (A-PREDICT)

This was a phase 2 trial. 65 people with advanced kidney cancer who couldn’t have surgery to remove their kidney took part. The main reason why people couldn’t have surgery was because their cancer had spread in and around their kidneys or to other parts of their body.

Everyone in this trial took axitinib tablets, twice every day. People took axitinib until either their cancer started to get worse (disease progression) or they had severe side effects.

The trial team looked at how well axitinib worked. To do this, they looked at the number of people who were alive and with no signs of their cancer getting worse, after 6 months of taking axitinib. They found 39 out of 65 people (60%) were alive and did not have any disease progression after 6 months of treatment with axitinib.

The trial team also looked at the length of time people lived without their cancer getting worse. This is called progression free survival. They found on average it was around 8 and half months.

The team looked at the amount of time people lived after the start of axitinib. This is called overall survival. They found on average it was around 19 months.

The trial team also found that 8 out of 65 people (12%) were able to have surgery to remove their kidney after having axitinib treatment.

The trial team looked at the most severe side effects people had. They were high blood pressure and tiredness (fatigue). Doctors were able to treat these side effects.

So, the team concluded that axitinib helps people with advanced kidney cancer who can’t have surgery. They also found that this treatment is safe to take.

This was a phase 2 trial which did not compare axitinib with another treatment. So, more research will need to be done to confirm the results of this trial.  

Since the A-PREDICT trial began, new treatments including immunotherapy drugs have become available for people with advanced kidney cancer.

We have based this summary on information from the research team.  As far as we are aware, the information they sent us has not been reviewed independently (peer reviewed ) or published in a medical journal yet. The figures we quote above were provided by the research team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.