Data Show Comparable Immunotherapy Outcomes Across RCC Age Populations

Antonio Ocejo, MD, spoke with CancerNetwork^® at the 2026 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium about findings from a retrospective study evaluating differences in treatment tolerance and outcomes among patients 70 years and older vs those younger than 70 who received nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

According to Ocejo, a Hematology/Oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the older population of patients were significantly less likely to complete 4 cycles of induction therapy with nivolumab/ipilimumab compared with younger patients. Additionally, patients 70 years and older had a higher likelihood of discontinuing treatment due to toxicity, whereas the younger population typically discontinued therapy following disease progression. Despite these differences, survival outcomes appeared to be comparable regardless of patient age, representing a “particularly interesting” observation from the study.

Transcript:

Out of [514] patients, we had around 20% of patients who were 70 years or older. Only 1% or 2% were 80 years or older. The median age was 62 years of age. We stratified the population; the cut-off that we used was 70 years. We looked at an analysis comparison between the younger and the elderly group. What we found is that the rates of induction completion—the patients who were able to get all 4 induction doses of [nivolumab/ipilimumab] combined—were significantly [lower] in the elderly patients. When we looked at tolerability, we saw that there were more treatment discontinuation rates in the elderly patients compared with the younger patients. The elderly patients discontinued the treatment more [often] because of adverse effects, in a statistically significant way, vs the younger patients who tended to discontinue the treatment because of progression.

That leads into the clinical outcomes. Even though we saw those differences, when we looked at overall survival, that was comparable across the 2 groups. That was particularly interesting. Also, the time on treatment was similar as well, even though the treatment tolerance and the discontinuation rates were different in the younger vs the older patients.

Reference

Ocejo A, Dizman N, Doshi SD, et al. Clinical outcomes and tolerability of ipilimumab/nivolumab in older (≥70 years) versus younger patients with metastatic clear cell RCC: A multi-institutional analysis of 514 patients. J Clin Oncol. 2026;44(suppl 7):444. doi:10.1200/JCO.2026.44.7_suppl.444