Response to cabozantinib in renal cell carcinoma with cardiac metastases

Anticancer Drugs. 2020 Mar;31(3):314-318. doi: 10.1097/CAD.0000000000000889.

Abstract

In metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients, cardiac metastases are a rare and often a post-mortem finding. Clinical manifestations of cardiac metastases have a late onset and include pericardial effusions, heart failure and embolic phenomena. Treatment of cardiac metastasis is not yet standardized, and few data are available about the efficacy of TKI on treatment of cardiac metastases in mRCC patients. In this report, we describe the case of a 66-year-old male who presented with mRCC with lung and cardiac metastases treated with cabozantinib, a multikinase inhibitor that was administered in second line after disease progression with sunitinib. To date, there are no data about the safety and efficacy of cabozantinib in mRCC with cardiac metastasis. In a real word analysis, cabozantinib demonstrated to be associated to a modest risk of developing left ventricular heart failure. It is unknown if this risk is higher in mRCC population with cardiac metastases. We report the first evidence of efficacy and safety of cabozantinib in cardiac mRCC patients, probably due to its specific inhibition of several molecular intracellular pathways. Additional molecular and clinical studies are needed before well tolerated and efficacy of cabozantinib treatment for these patients can be fully understood.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Anilides / adverse effects
  • Anilides / therapeutic use*
  • Carcinoma, Renal Cell / pathology*
  • Heart Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Heart Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Humans
  • Kidney Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Male
  • Pyridines / adverse effects
  • Pyridines / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Anilides
  • Pyridines
  • cabozantinib