Kidney cancer often presents no symptoms until it's found on imaging for another reason. Surgery remains the main treatment for early disease, while advanced kidney cancer is now treated with combinations of immunotherapy drugs and targeted therapies that have turned a once-grim prognosis into a manageable chronic condition for many people.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing new immunotherapy combinations, antibody-drug conjugates that deliver chemotherapy directly to cancer cells, drugs targeting HIF-2α that block the fuel supply to tumors, and CAR-T cell therapies adapted from blood cancer treatment. Researchers are also studying which biomarkers predict response to treatment and whether targeted drugs can prevent recurrence after surgery.
HIF-2α inhibitors
Belzutifan blocks a protein that kidney cancer cells use to survive low-oxygen conditions. FDA-approved for von Hippel-Lindau disease and advanced kidney cancer, it's now being tested in earlier disease and combinations.
Antibody-drug conjugates
These molecules deliver chemotherapy directly to cancer cells by targeting proteins on their surface. Several are in trials for kidney cancer that has stopped responding to standard treatments.
Adjuvant therapy
Studies are testing whether giving immunotherapy or targeted drugs after surgery prevents cancer from returning. The goal is to identify which patients benefit most from additional treatment.
What to know before you search
Eligibility usually depends on kidney cancer subtype, disease stage, prior treatments received, and kidney function level.
What types of trials are currently open
- Combination therapy trials — Testing pairs or triplets of immunotherapy drugs and targeted therapies, often comparing new combinations to current standards. These dominate kidney cancer research.
- Adjuvant trials — Testing whether giving treatment after surgery prevents kidney cancer from coming back in people at high risk of recurrence.
- Biomarker trials — Studying tumor tissue and blood to identify which patients will respond to which treatments, aiming to personalize therapy choices.
- Rare subtype trials — Testing treatments specifically for less common forms like papillary or chromophobe kidney cancer, which may need different approaches than clear cell.
- Resistance trials — Testing new drugs for people whose kidney cancer has stopped responding to immunotherapy or targeted therapies.
Recently added Kidney Cancer trials
Study on MRD Prediction of Efficacy of Toripalimab in the Treatment of High-risk Recurrent Renal Carcinoma
This is a prospective cohort study aimed at clarifying the predictive value of MRD for postoperative DFS and OS in high-risk recurrent renal cell carcinoma patients who have undergone radical nephrectomy and received adjuvant treatment with Toripalimab. Further differentiating patients who need adjuvant immunotherapy.
A Study of a Side Effects and Resource Navigation Program for People With Cancer
The purpose of this study is to find out if the navigation program helps participants manage immunotherapy treatment better than usual care. Investigators will also look at how the navigation program impacts participants' quality of life. Investigators will measure quality of life by having participants complete questionnaires.
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