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A Study of Cabozantinib and Nivolumab With Radiation Therapy for People With Renal Cell Carcinoma that has Spread to the Brain

Trial Status: active

This phase Ib trial evaluates the safety and effectiveness of combination cabozantinib and nivolumab added to standard stereotactic radiosurgery for treating patients with renal cell (kidney) cancer that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to the brain (brain metastases). Cabozantinib is an enzyme inhibitor that binds to and inhibits enzymes overexpressed by certain types of tumor cells. This may prevent the growth of tumors cells as well as the growth of blood vessels the tumor needs to grow and survive. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Stereotactic radiosurgery is a type of external radiation therapy that uses special equipment to position the patient and precisely give a single large dose of radiation to a tumor. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the combination of cabozantinib and nivolumab as a treatment for renal cell cancer, but cabozantinib and nivolumab combined with radiation therapy are usually given at different times for the treatment of renal cell cancer. Giving combination cabozantinib and nivolumab at the same time as stereotactic radiosurgery may be a safe and effective treatment option that causes few or mild side effects in patients with renal cell cancer and brain metastases.