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NCT Number: NCT06882486

Post-immunotherapy Nephrectomy for Metastatic Kidney Cancer After Complete or Major Response to Systemic Therapy

In the current era of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), the role and timing of nephrectomy remains unknown, particularly in cases of residual kidney disease after a major response at metastatic sites. In these cases, the rationale for a delayed nephrectomy is that it might achieve a long-term response. This strategy could allow some patients to discontinue treatment and maintain tumor response. Furthermore, this approach might provide a potentially curative option for patients with metastases that are managed with and responding to ICI.

Regarding the results of our first retrospective cohort data (showing that two thirds of patients are free from recurrence without systemic treatment after nephrectomy), we designed a non-comparative randomized phase II trial assessing progression-free survival of patients with complete response or major partial response after ICI-based treatment, operated on delayed nephrectomy with discontinuation of systemic therapy (experimental arm) and in patients managed with continuation of systemic therapy without nephrectomy (control arm).

In a de-escalation approach, this strategy may have sense to allow patients with an excellent response to immunotherapy to stop systemic treatment with a curative objective and a substantial impact from a medico-economic point of view.

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Key information

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Institut Paoli-Calmettes

Marseille, Institut Paoli-calmettes, 13273, France

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Jihane PAKRADOUNI

CONTACT

[email protected]

0491223778

About this study

Patients with metastatic kidney cancer will be treated according to current first-line treatment guidelines.

Patients may be included in the study (by signing a consent form) and randomized if a complete response (CR) or metastatic partial response (mPR) (>75%) is achieved with immunotherapy-based systemic therapy.

In the centers participating in the ancillary study, patients in the experimental arm (arm A) will undergo renal MRI and PSMA PET (positron emission tomography) scan prior to nephrectomy.

Arm A patients will undergo nephrectomy (partial or enlarged, depending on technical possibilities and surgeon's discretion), after which systemic treatment will be discontinued.

Patients in arm B will not undergo surgery, and will continue their systemic treatment unchanged (interrupted in the event of toxicity, in accordance with current recommendations).

In both arms, follow-up will consist of a biological and CT scan evaluation every 3 months for 2 years.

The primary objective is to evaluate the efficacy of the experimental strategy in terms of progression-free survival, progression being defined according to the usual RECIST criteria.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patient aged ≥ 18 years
  • Diagnosed with synchronous metastatic kidney cancer
  • With primary tumor still in place (no primary cytoreductive nephrectomy)
  • Having received systemic ICI immunotherapy-based combination therapy
  • In CR or mPR (defined as >75% response in metastatic lesions from baseline) according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST, version 1.1), excluding the primary renal lesion.
  • Signed consent to participate
  • Affiliated to the national social security scheme or beneficiaries of such a scheme

Exclusion criteria

  • Women who are or may become pregnant (without effective contraception) or who are breast-feeding.
  • Person in an emergency situation or unable to give consent.
  • An adult under legal protection (guardianship, curators or safeguard of justice),
  • Inability to undergo medical follow-up for geographical, social or psychological reasons.
  • Patients who have undergone prior cytoreductive nephrectomy
  • Patients considering nephrectomy for symptomatic disease, but without major response (CR or mPR) in metastatic disease
  • Patients with non-metastatic disease at diagnosis who have received ICI in a neo-adjuvant setting
  • Patients with contraindications to surgery or ineligible for nephrectomy
  • Patients not wishing to undergo nephrectomy
  • Patients with end-stage renal disease

Treatment and study plan

Nephrectomy

Procedure

Nephrectomy scheduled within 3 months of inclusion. Patients may continue their systemic treatment at the usual rate until D-5 prior to surgery. Treatment will not be resumed after surgery. Surgery may consist of partial or enlarged nephrectomy, with or without associated lymph node dissection, depending on technical possibilities and at the surgeon's discretion.

Primary outcomes

  1. progression-free survival

    Time frame: 24 month

    post-randomization progression-free survival

Secondary outcomes

  1. Overall survival

    Time frame: 24 month

    Overall post-randomization survival

  2. Intraoperative and postoperative complications

    Time frame: 30 days

    Rate of intraoperative and postoperative complications

  3. Immunotherapy-related adverse events

    Time frame: 24 months

    Rate of immunotherapy-related adverse events (including CTCAE grade ≥ 3)

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Institut Paoli-Calmettes

Other

Registry information

Acronym: NAMECAR

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2031
Study completion
2031
First posted
Mar 18, 2025
Registry last updated
Mar 20, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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