OBJECTIVES: Targeted therapy is widely used in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) to improve survival and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Existing HRQOL data in mRCC patients comes from clinical trials. This study investigated the impact of pazopanib on mRCC patients’ HRQOL in the US community oncology setting.

METHODS: Medical records data from adult mRCC patients starting pazopanib 1/1/2009 to 9/30/2016 were retrospectively collected. HRQOL was assessed for first line (L1) pazopanib patients using the Patient Care Monitor (PCM), an 86-item patient reported outcomes survey, administered as part of routine care in participating practices, resulting in 20%-30% of patients with HRQOL data. Study endpoints included composite scores (General Physical Symptoms, Treatment Side Effects, Acute Distress, Impaired Ambulation, and Impaired Performance). Linear mixed models (LMM) were used to assess change in PCM scores during L1 therapy. Covariates included baseline clinical and demographic variables.

RESULTS: Among 109 L1 pazopanib patients identified, 43 had PCM data (>200 observations). Of these, median age was 67 (range 47-86) years, 70% were male, 81% white, and 19% African American. At initial RCC diagnosis, stage IV (37.2%) was most common. Overall, at baseline, 7.0% of patients had impaired performance status (PS) and 11.6% had poor Heng Score. Most metastases occurred in lung (65.1%) and bone (30.2%). LMM for pazopanib in L1 showed no clinically meaningful changes over time for HRQOL scores. Among patients with baseline impaired PS, General Physical Symptoms (P=0.072), Impaired Ambulation (P=0.036) and Impaired Performance (P=0.007) scores were worse during therapy. Other covariates were nonsignificant.

CONCLUSIONS: This study using real-world retrospective data showed no change over time for HRQOL in mRCC patients after starting on pazopanib, suggesting that pazopanib treatment did not worsen HRQOL. Despite the low sample size, results appear clinically consistent and the self-reported HRQOL was consistent with physician-rated performance status at baseline.