Randomized Phase III Trial Comparing Immediate Versus Deferred Nephrectomy in Patients With Synchronous Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma

OBJECTIVES:

• To determine if immediate versus deferred nephrectomy has an effect on disease control in patients with resectable, synchronous, metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sunitinib malate.
• To identify potential response criteria based on histopathology and molecular research on tumor tissue.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to WHO performance status (0 vs 1), number of metastatic sites (1 vs 2 or more), and institution. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

• Arm I (immediate nephrectomy): Patients undergo cytoreductive nephrectomy. Beginning 4 weeks after surgery, patients receive oral sunitinib malate once daily on days 1-28. Treatment with sunitinib malate repeats every 6 weeks for 4 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
• Arm II (deferred nephrectomy): Patients receive oral sunitinib malate once daily on days 1-28. Treatment repeats every 6 weeks for 3 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. About 1 day after completion of sunitinib malate, patients undergo cytoreductive nephrectomy. Patients then receive oral sunitinib malate once daily on days 1-28. Treatment repeats every 6 weeks for 2 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Some patients undergo tumor tissue collection at baseline and at time of surgery to assess possible differences in gene expression. Patients also undergo blood sample collection periodically to evaluate the potential impact of serum proteins on the clinical outcome. Samples are then stored for future studies.