It is reasonable to move forward and use crizotinib in this group of patients (MET-positive patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma type 1).

— Mayer Fishman, MD, PhD

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“This was a difficult study to conduct. It required 13 centers in 8 countries over 3 years to recruit these patients—that’s about 1 patient per site per year,” said Mayer Fishman, MD, PhD, of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. “It’s an important study, because these patients are typically excluded from clinical trials, and it is the first trial limited to papillary renal cell carcinoma type 1. The investigators did a careful job of looking for MET mutations,” he continued.

“They showed that crizotinib is active in a narrow spectrum of patients. It is reasonable to move forward and use crizotinib in this group of patients (MET-positive patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma type 1),” said Dr. Fishman. The study implies that patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma type 1 should be tested for MET mutations and amplification to ensure that the drug would be used in those likely to respond. ν

Disclosure: Dr. Fishman has received research funding for kidney cancer–related projects from Acceleron, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Exelixis, Pfizer, Prometheus, and Tracon and is on the speakers bureau for GlaxoSmithKline, Prometheus, and Pfizer (not related to crizotinib).